Republicans and Fox News are working overtime to deflect blame, gaslight their followers, and rewrite history as to why Putin has invaded Ukraine. The non-stop “it is Joe Biden’s fault” is some of the worst gaslighting I’ve ever seen. Let’s remember the many reasons why Putin was emboldened to invade Ukraine by Trump’s actions and policies.
Trump Divided The Republican Party on Ukraine and Created Weakness
American support for Ukraine used to be strong, clear, and bipartisan. What changed? Trump in 2016. Trump hired Paul Manafort for his campaign manager. Manafort worked for the ousted former pro-Russian government in Ukraine.
time.com/….
www.atlanticcouncil.org/… The Republican Party platform on Ukraine was always very strong before Trump.
Then, in 2016, "party insiders took the unusual step of watering down its formal position on whether the U.S. should help protect Ukraine from Russian incursions – a move viewed as a surprising concession to the Russian government at a time of tension in Ukraine.
The platform change took place during the Republican convention organized by then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Manafort had previously worked for a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party." abcnews.go.com/…
“The Ukraine change, combined with the Trump campaign’s involvement and questions about Manafort’s connections to Russia, have riled Republican hawks who have favored maintaining a stauncher, anti-Putin stance." www.thedailybeast.com/...www.latimes.com/…
In the lead up to the 2020 election, the Republican Party, because of the divisions caused by Trump, was unable to draft a new party platform. “
In the absence of a new platform, the Republican National Committee this year endorsed the 2016 agenda and affirmed support for President Trump’s second-term goals in a resolution.” thehill.com/… Many found this concerning for the future of support for Ukraine.
Before Trump, America used to have a very strong, unified, bi-partisan support for Ukraine. Trump divided the Republican Party on Ukraine and weakened American support for Ukraine in the eyes of Putin.
During His Presidency, Trump Repeatedly and Falsely Claimed Ukraine and Not Russia Interfered with our Election
Trump spent his Presidency attacking Ukraine and parroting Putin’s lie that Ukraine and not Russia interfered in our election, undermining and splintering American support for Ukraine. www.cnn.com/…. www.nbcnews.com/… www.wired.com/… Trump spent his entire Presidency trying to turn support for Ukraine into a partisan issue. Trump and his allies made support for Ukraine a partisan issue by claiming that Ukraine intervened in the election on behalf of Hillary and that Ukraine had the DNC server and would not turn it over. “Never mind that the notion has since been amplified by the president of Russia, the country that U.S. intelligence agencies unequivocally blame for interfering in that year’s presidential race. Or that Trump’s hand-picked FBI director and other American officials have said there’s no information pointing to Ukraine interference. Or that 25 Russians stand charged in U.S. courts with hacking into Democratic emails and waging a covert social media campaign to sway American public opinion.” apnews.com/… www.pbs.org/...
“A review by The Associated Press shows that the Ukraine conspiracy theory traces back to Trump’s 2016 campaign, was spread online and later advanced by Russian President Vladimir Putin weeks after his own country was blamed for election interference. Finally, some of America’s own elected leaders made it their truth.” apnews.com/… Trump allies constantly promoted the lie, like Roger Stone who tweeted, “The only interference in the U.S. election is from Hillary’s friends in Ukraine.” apnews.com/… “Putin himself weighed in days after Trump moved into the White House, publicly claiming that Ukraine’s entire government had favored Clinton during the election and now needed to “improve relations” with the new Trump administration,” sending a dark message to the Ukrainian government. apnews.com/…
In Trump’s first 100 days in office, he claimed that Ukraine and not Russia had hacked the Democratic National Committee server and falsely claimed that the company that discovered the hack being attributable to Russia was owned by a Ukrainian oligarch. Trump suggested that the DNC server hack was a plan by Democrats to falsely blame Putin. Both claims were false. apnews.com/…. A Senior Trump White House official stated that Trump said that believed that Ukraine meddled in the U.S. election on behalf of Hillary because “Putin told me” so. www.washingtonpost.com/….
Ted Cruz, who now gaslights his followers on his “hard-line support” for Ukraine, to Putin’s delight, likewise followed Trump’s attacks on Ukraine, and not Russia, being the one that interfered in the U.S. election on behalf of Hillary. During an “interview, Todd asked Cruz if he believed Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election. ‘I do,’ Cruz said. ‘And I think there’s considerable evidence of that.’” www.statesman.com/… Other pro-Trump Republicans followed with Putin’s talking points as well, “U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., made the same argument in a separate “Meet the Press” interview a week earlier. He said former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ‘actively worked for Secretary Clinton,’ citing eight news articles that he said support his statement. We rated his claim False.” www.statesman.com/…
Trump Repeatedly Attacked Ukraine on the World Stage While he Showered Praise on Putin
To Putin’s delight, during his Presidency, Trump repeatedly parroted Putin’s attacks on Ukraine. Trump repeatedly attacked Ukraine as “corrupt.” www.wsj.com/… www.politico.eu/… According to the Wall Street Journal, “[s]ince taking office, President Trump has criticized Ukraine for corruption and expressed sympathy with Russia’s historical claim to parts of the country—views that have tempered his engagement with Ukraine.” www.wsj.com/… Trump and the GOP repeatedly made claims that they were withholding military aid because of their concerns Ukrainian “corruption.” President Zelensky repeatedly begged Trump, “please, please stop saying that Ukraine is a corrupt country.” www.cnn.com/… Trump’s attacks on Ukraine worked to further split the Republican Party on Ukraine and weaken American support for Ukraine. This weakness served to further embolden Putin.
After Trump was elected, Trump invited world leaders to the White House. These invitations are important to show the world who the President intends to develop ties with. The Ukrainian President many times asked for an invitation to the Trump White House to show Putin that America was still committed to its support. But no invitation came, making Ukraine’s position look weak. www.cnn.com/…. Nonetheless, Trump invited Putin to the White House and continually lavished praise on the corrupt, authoritarian dictator. When asked about Putin murdering journalists on Fox News, “’But he’s a killer,’ O’Reilly said to Trump. ‘There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?’ Trump replied.” www.cnn.com/…. Trump equated what the United States does with a man who murders journalists and his opponents. Here are a few lists of the number of times he lavished praise on Putin, breaking with his own Administration. www.rollingstone.com/… www.cnn.com/…. www.newsweek.com/...
Not Only Did Trump Attempt to Tie Ukraine to Hillary, He Attempted to Smear Ukraine with Biden Scandals
To further undermine support for Ukraine, Trump attempted to make support for Ukraine a partisan issue. He attempted to smear Ukraine with false claims of corruption of Joe Biden as well as Hunter Biden. Trump falsely alleged that Biden had acted corruptly when he “traveled to Kyiv as vice president and warned Ukraine’s then-president, Petro Poroshenko, that the U.S. would withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees until Ukraine removed its prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, who was widely viewed as corrupt. At the time, the international community and anti-corruption advocates in Ukraine were also calling for Shokin to be removed from office for his failure to aggressively prosecute corruption.” www.factcheck.org/…
The truth is that there was bi-partisan support on this, including from Senators Ron Johnson and Rob Portman. www.vox.com/… Moreover, European officials pressured Ukraine to fire Viktor Shokin months before Joe Biden. www.ft.com/…. European Union diplomats working on Ukraine explained that they were working to remove Mr. Shokin well before Vice President Biden was involved. The International community wanted Mr. Shokin removed in order to strengthen Ukraine’s institutions and to root out Russian corrupt influences in the country given Russia’s annexation of Crimea and continued Russian aggression against Ukraine. www.ft.com/... The ousted Mr. Shokin was an ally of Russian-tied oligarchs tied to Putin. www.theatlantic.com/…
Nevertheless, Trump sent Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to work with Russian-tied oligarchs in an attempt to dig up dirt on Biden and smear Ukraine. www.theatlantic.com/… www.atlanticcouncil.org/…. Again, to Putin’s delight, Trump had Ukraine mired in another scandal that would cause a partisan split in America for support for Ukraine. Trump was tainting support for Ukraine to corrupt Democrats and Biden thereby weakening Ukraine against Russian aggression. Trump’s own staff and intelligence community told him that the claims he was alleging were baseless yet Trump persisted. www.usatoday.com/…. The Republican investigation into Trump’s smear also found no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden. www.nytimes.com/...
Trump Did In Fact Withhold $400 Million in Military Aid from Ukraine on the Basis of Putin Conspiracy Theories
This was the basis of Trump’s impeachment. Trump withheld a staggering $400 million in military aid. Trump was refusing to supply support for Ukraine until Ukraine turned over evidence of his and Putin’s conspiracy theory of Joe Biden wrongdoing with the firing of Shokin, which I already discussed. africa.businessinsider.com/…. www.cnbc.com/…. www.independent.co.uk/…. How diabolical is this? Ukraine either has to interfere in the U.S. election by manufacturing dirt on Biden or it cannot get the military aid. Either way it is a win-win for Putin. Trump, who is friendly to Putin at every turn, gets re-elected if they help supply the dirt or they get no support from the U.S. which weakens Ukraine.
Days After Entering Office, Trump Sought to Lift Sanctions Against Russia For Invading Ukraine and Annexing Crimea in Exchange for Nothing
Raising eyebrows in his own administration, just days after entering office, Trump sought to lift sanctions against Russia in exchange for nothing from Russia. www.businessinsider.com/…. "’There was serious consideration by the White House to unilaterally rescind the sanctions, according to Dan Fried, who retired in February as Coordinator for Sanctions Policy at the State Department.’” www.newsweek.com/…
“Well, we know that the calls went to Dan Fried, who is a veteran State Department diplomat and was at the time the U.S. coordinator for sanctions policy. * * * And he said in those first few weeks of the Trump administration, he gets these phone calls from officials who have been assigned to work on a sanctions relief package. They are very worried. And they say at one point to him, according to Fried, my God, can't you stop this?” www.npr.org/…. U.S. officials were ordered to develop a plan to lift the sanctions unilaterally even though the sanctions were coordinated with the European Union and the EU would oppose the removal of the sanctions. www.npr.org/…. To stop Trump, the traditional Republican Party along with Democrats drafted a bi-partisan legislation to codify the sanctions to prevent Trump from lifting them. www.npr.org/...
Trump Repeatedly Attacked and Undermined NATO Which Emboldened Putin
The NATO alliance is the bedrock that prevents Russia’s naked aggression into Europe. The alliance states that an attack on one is an attack on all. This alliance is the only thing that keeps Russia from invading many smaller nations that would not be able to combat Russia’s military power. Russia and Putin’s number one goal has been to undermine NATO and divide the West.
From the beginning, and contrary to the traditional Republican Party, Trump has attacked and undermined the NATO alliance thereby weakening NATO. Officials warned that Trump’s dangerous attacks on the alliance test and weaken the alliance and tempt Putin to test the alliance. www.newsweek.com/…. “Trump's derision of NATO has been ‘damaging’ and ‘politically weakening’ for NATO.” www.newsweek.com/…
Trump even went further, however, “Donald Trump set off alarm bells in European capitals Thursday after suggesting he might not honor the core tenet of the NATO military alliance.” www.nbcnews.com/…. “Trump said the U.S. would not necessarily defend new NATO members in the Baltics in the event of Russian attack if he were elected to the White House.” www.nbcnews.com/…. “Trump's comments were perceived by some analysts as carte blanche for Russia to intimidate NATO allies and a potential harbinger of the alliance's collapse were Trump to be elected.” www.nbcnews.com/…. Traditional Republicans repeatedly rebuked Trump on his attacks on Nato, calling his comments not only “ill-informed,” but “dangerous.” www.politico.com/…
Trump’s Own National Security Advisor Said Putin Would Already Have Had Ukraine if Trump Was Re-elected
As Trump, Fox News, and right wing media continue to gaslight Americans that this would not have happened if Trump were re-elected, Trump’s own National Security Advisor, and staunch Conservative, John Bolton stated, if Trump were re-elected, Putin would have already had Ukraine. Yes, this exact thing wouldn't have happened though, Bolton stated that Trump would have given Ukraine to Putin. www.newsweek.com/…. www.republicworld.com/...
Trump planned to mire Ukraine in Hillary, Biden, and Democratic Party conspiracy scandals and then claim he was withholding American support for Ukraine because of “Ukraine’s corruption” and “failure to turn over evidence.” This scheme would splinter Republican support for Ukraine and give Trump partisan cover for his lack of support for Ukraine. It would also make Americans wonder why we should do anything to protect this corrupt regime.
The lack of American support would lead to the collapse of Ukraine with Russian influence campaigns there and would set the stage for Russia to stage a regime change that then Trump could applaud because the “corrupt” Hillary and Biden-tied Ukrainians would be ousted. Bolton explained that Trump was trying to gin up politically motivated investigations in Ukraine against Hillary, Biden, and Democrats. Trump could then smear Ukraine with it which would undermine American support. www.businessinsider.com/… www.npr.org/…. www.justsecurity.org/… Bolton also stated that Trump lacked any understanding or care about how geopolitically important Ukraine is to the West.
Trump Planned to Withdraw from NATO if Re-elected
Putin’s number one mission has been to undermine NATO and the West. Trump called NATO “obsolete” and privately stated multiple times that he wanted to withdraw from NATO if he were re-elected thereby giving Putin everything he desired — the destruction of NATO and a splintered and weak West. www.cnbc.com/… www.independent.co.uk/…. Trump’s National Security advisor, John Bolton, confirmed this, stating, that there was a “very real risk” that Trump would have withdrawn the U.S. from NATO. www.politico.eu/…. Trump’s own Defense Secretary, the highly thought of General James Mattis resigned over his disagreements with Trump over his undermining of NATO and the West and emboldening of Russia. www.businessinsider.com/...
Trump Gave Putin His Wish List on Syria, Drawing a Rare Rebuke from U.S. Military and Fellow Republicans
Trump precipitously pulled out all U.S. troops from Syria which was roundly criticized by current and former U.S. military generals, General Mattis, and the traditional Republican Party. www.washingtonpost.com/…. American Generals and the traditional Republican Party wanted to keep troops in the Kurdish area in order to maintain a presence in the region so that Russia would not have complete dominance in the region and to protect our partners in the region. Trump’s abrupt pullout allowed Russian troops to roll in to fill the void, giving Putin everything he wanted on Syria, along with the murders of our longstanding allies in the region. www.cbsnews.com/…. Trump’s Secretary of Defense, General Mattis, resigned over Trump’s decision and wrote a scathing letter on Trump’s dangerous foreign policy. www.cnbc.com/… A bi-partisan Republican and Democratic House majority voted to rebuke Trump for pulling out of Syria. www.defensenews.com/… www.usatoday.com/…. www.nbcnews.com/...
Trump gave Putin his wish list on Syria against his own party’s stance and his military generals. Why wouldn’t he have done the same thing with Ukraine if re-elected?
Trump’s Agreement with the Taliban to Withdraw from Afghanistan Most Benefitted Russia
The gaslighting on the Right has also worked overtime to smear Biden on the Afghan withdrawal. What they neglect to tell Americans is that it was Trump who brokered and signed the messy deal with the Taliban in the first place. And the fail to tell you that Russia is the country that benefits most from the deal. “Amid the peace talks brokered by the United States, one angle that most observers of Afghanistan have ignored is the role of Russia, which has enthusiastically supported the agreement. Along with Pakistan, Russia stands to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of any NATO withdrawal.” foreignpolicy.com/…
“Over the past several years, it has been quietly working in the background to enhance its ties with the Taliban, with the purpose of expanding its strategic interests in Afghanistan—and in the process exorcising the failings of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan during the 1980s. Once NATO and U.S. forces leave, Russia will once again have an opportunity to step in. And in that sense, the recent revelations about Moscow’s sordid arrangement with the Taliban should come as no surprise.” foreignpolicy.com/…
For this reason, Trump’s top U.S. generals and military leaders advised against Trump pulling out entirely from Afghanistan. www.axios.com/…. www.nytimes.com/…. Yet again, despite his own advisors telling him that a complete pull out would benefit Russia, Trump chose to pull out. So, Trump brokers and signs a deal that benefits Putin the most against our military’s advice, leaves Biden to deal with the messy pullout, and then blames and back seat quarterbacks Biden for the mess he left behind as if it was possible to pull out better. U.S. Generals stated that he brokered deal baked in the chaos that was unleashed — the collapse of Afghanistan. www.aljazeera.com/…. It was Trump’s Taliban deal that literally set up the disaster. www.businessinsider.com/…. thehill.com/…. Again, Trump and Putin achieve their mutual goals. Biden is smeared and Putin’s sphere of influence in the world is again increased and America’s is diminished by Trump’s actual actions.
Trump Stated that he Believed Putin Should Have Crimea Against Long-standing U.S. Policies
Putin in 2014 invaded Crimea, a region in Ukraine, and annexed it into Russia. Before Trump, U.S. policy was clear that the U.S. opposed Russia’s illegal invasion and annexation of Crimea. Strangely, Donald Trump took an entirely different view on Crimea. At a G-7 meeting, Trump flipped U.S. policy on Crimea, parroting Putin’s talking points that the Russians had the right to protect Russian citizens and that the people of Crimea spoke Russian. www.businessinsider.com/… “Trump told world leaders at the dinner that ‘Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the world’ and wondered why leaders sided with them over Russia.“ www.businessinsider.com/…
Even more, against long-standing bi-partisan U.S. policy on the illegal invasion and annexation of Crimea, “Donald Trump said that the people of Russia-annexed Crimea [region of Ukraine] appear to want to remain under Russia's control –- and that a President Trump would ‘look at’ whether the U.S. would recognize Russian control of the territory. ‘I'm gonna take a look at it,’ Trump told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos * * * ‘But you know, the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. And you have to look at that, also.’” abcnews.go.com/…. Trump also parroted Putin’s talking point that Crimea and Ukraine should be under Russian control because they speak Russian. So, along this line of reasoning, the Britain should have a claim to invade and annex the U.S. since we speak English and Spain can invade and annex Mexico, Latin America, and most of South America. Trump’s lack of understanding is astonishing.
Republicans Often Point to Trump Selling Javelins (Not Blankets) to Ukraine, But Fail to Point Out He Resisted Doing It
Republicans often attack Democrats by pointing to the fact that Trump approved selling javelins to Ukraine, but they fail to point out that he did not want to do it. foreignpolicy.com/…. His own officials, administration, and party had to convince him. According to his own officials, Trump even wanted Ukraine to pay America back. Officials were only finally able to convince Trump to agree to the sale by arguing it would benefit American businesses and that would make Trump look good. Trump did not want to do it to help Ukraine. foreignpolicy.com/…. And, the sale included a provision that they could not be used against the pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. www.businessinsider.com/...
Trump’s Hand-Picked Campaign Manager Worked for the Former, Ousted Pro-Russian Ukrainian President
In 2016, Trump hand-picked as his campaign manager Paul Manafort. Is it a coincidence that Manafort’s previous job was working to elect the Pro-Putin candidate in Ukraine. Manafort spent 10 years working for the Kremlin-backed Ukrainian leader until he was ousted and replaced by a Western friendly government. www.nbcnews.com/…. www.theatlantic.com/…. www.theatlantic.com/… Not only that, after working to get the former, ousted Pro-Putin leader elected in Ukraine, Manafort was secretly paid by a Russian oligarch to campaign for Russia’s interests in the U.S. www.wsj.com/… www.cnbc.com/… www.nbcnews.com/… www.npr.org/…. www.reuters.com/…. Moreover, Manafort’s employee was found in the Mueller investigation to have shared U.S. President election polling data and Trump’s campaign strategies with Russia. www.newyorker.com/…. www.cnbc.com/…. www.theguardian.com/…. www.washingtonpost.com/… thehill.com/...
So, what message would that send to Ukraine when Trump hired the same campaign manager as the former Pro-Putin President of Ukraine. And what message does that send to Russia and the world. It is obvious, that Trump is on the side of Russia which again weakens Ukraine.
Trump Invited Putin to Join G7 In Exchange for Nothing And Against U.S. Allies
Russia was a member of the G8 countries. The G8 was a group of highly industrialized countries that met to foster consensus on global issues like economic growth, world crises, energy, security, etc. After Russia illegally invaded Ukraine and annexed the Crimea region, one of the sanctions against Russia was that it was expelled from the G8. International law prohibits a country from invading another sovereign national without an attack. Russia, without any attack on its nation, invaded Ukraine in violation of international law. In response, Russia was expelled and the group then became the G7.
Trump repeatedly attacked the G7 ally group as “outdated” and argued that Russia should be readmitted to the group. www.theatlantic.com/… Boris Johnson vehemently disagreed with Trump, stating that Russia violated international law and continued with aggressive and destabilizing activity around the world. www.bbc.com/… Trump repeatedly argued for Russia and Putin to be readmitted over protests from the other G7 nations that Putin had continued to destabilize the West. www.bbc.com/… Trump’s insistence on trying to get Putin admitted into the G7 caused bitter fighting and divisions between America and its allies as well as Trump’s own administration officials. Trump attacked U.S. allies and supported Putin yet again weakening Western alliances.
Trump Repeatedly Sided With Putin over His Own U.S. Intelligence
Trump repeatedly sided with Putin over his own U.S. Intelligence, even on foreign soil. At the Helsinki Summit, “President Trump was asked if he believed his own intelligence agencies or the Russian president when it came to the allegations of meddling in the elections.” www.bbc.com/…. www.cbsnews.com/...
"’President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be,’ he replied.’” www.bbc.com/…. This shocked the U.S. military, FBI, CIA, and many in the Republican Party. Not only did Trump fail to ever stand up to Putin over meddling in our elections, he emboldened Putin by saying that he agreed with Putin over his own government. Trump agreed with this murderous dictator on foreign soil.
Trump Repeatedly Told America That China Was the Biggest Threat to the U.S. Not Russia
As the Republican Party continues to gaslight and cover up on Trump, they deflect from the fact that Trump literally ran on the platform that China was the biggest threat to the U.S. not Russia. www.cnn.com/…. newrepublic.com/…. The Trump administration labeled China, not Russia, as the biggest threat to national security. thehill.com/…. Fox News, the right, and the Republican Party constantly argued that China and not Russia was the biggest threat to our security. Now they attempt to deflect by saying “Romney was right on this one” and ignore that Trump’s whole foreign policy was pinned on China and not Russia being our biggest national threat. www.cnn.com/….
Trump’s Own National Security Advisor Said that Trump Was Outright Hostile Toward Ukraine
John Bolton, Trump’s former National Security Advisor, stated that Trump was outright hostile toward Ukraine in the White House. www.atlanticcouncil.org/… Bolton stated that any support for Ukraine from the Trump White House came in spite of Trump and because of insistence from other members of his Administration and the traditional Republican Party. Bolton stated that Putin poisoned Trump’s views on Ukraine. www.atlanticcouncil.org/...
The Current Plan
Why would Putin invade now? Trump and many in the Republican Party have successfully weakened the West, increased Putin’s influence of power, and parrot Putin’s talking points. Take Tucker Carlson asking Americans what Putin has ever done to them. Well Tucker, other than sow divisions in America, spread misinformation, interfere in our elections, attack our government officials with Havana Syndrome, weaken and cause discord in the West, hack election sites, etc., other than that, what has Putin ever done to Americans?
Republicans spend much more time attacking our own American President than attacking Putin. Many Trump Republicans outright argue that Putin is right. They planned to spend their time attacking and weakening Biden rather than Putin. Then, when they take the House and Senate in the midterms, the Trump Republicans planned to push for Biden/Ukraine investigations again. Again, another win-win for Trump and Putin. Trump will yet again parrot Putin’s attacks on Ukraine and weaken the support and resolve of Americans to support Ukraine by miring it in a partisan scandal. They are essentially using the same playbook as they used in Afghanistan. Create the circumstances to mire Biden and Ukraine, blame Biden and Ukraine for the mess, and distract from the fact they are giving Putin every he wants.
The Right initially tried to convince its viewers and listeners “who cares about Ukraine” and that Ukraine is really no interest to the U.S. Luckily this is not working. The plan to just focus on “this is all Biden’s fault” to try to get Trump re-elected as well as his many adherents running for the House and Senate elected in the midterms. Then to push for investigations again. This will all spell bad news in the long-run for Ukraine.
Don’t Let Right Wing Media Gaslight you on Trump
There are many more facts that could be laid out to make clear that the Right’s claim that “this would not have happened under Trump” is ludicrous. Trump’s own administration from General Mattis to Bolton make it clear that Trump was not only a danger to Ukraine, he was and is a danger to the entire West. We cannot let these dangerous claims stand. Putin’s sphere of world power only increased under Trump and Russia moved into voids caused by Trump’s withdrawal from regions around the world. The Right spends their time attacking and weakening our American President when we are at war, attacking our allies like Canada as if Canada is an authoritarian state, and praising actual authoritarians like Putin. Right Wing media gaslights its viewers, rewrites history, and has become a danger to the West and democracies. Please pass this along.
