The spectacle of a former president openly calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine “genius” would have been a shock coming from anyone else — but not the former guy.
Aside from the fact that he’s Putin’s biggest fanboy, is almost certainly compromised, and really wants/needs money from Russian ‘investors’, there’s one other thing that should be considered in passing.
In the world view of the former guy, Zelensky is only getting what he’s got coming to him, for not going along with the former guy to frame Hunter Biden in a fake corruption scandal to take down Joe Biden in the 2020 election campaign. The former guy probably includes that in his list of grievances.
It’s an article of faith among his base and the GOP at large that the real scandal is between the Bidens and Russia. And Clinton and Russia, and anyone else besides the former guy and Russia. And don’t mention all the Russia-Ukraine connections among the people around the former guy.
Want to bet that if Putin installs a puppet regime in Ukraine, that there will be all this evidence suddenly ‘discovered’ on what Hunter Biden was ‘really’ up to, and why it means his father is the one who should be impeached?
Putin knows he can count on the former guy and the GOP to be his fifth column. They don’t even try to hide it.