Despite the claims of the New Right, America isn’t Russia and Donald Trump isn’t Alexei Navalny.
Several recent events have put the topic of Russia at the forefront of conservative discourse – the congressional battle over Ukraine funding, Tucker Carlson’s journalistic jaunt to Moscow, and the death in prison of Russian dissident politician Alexei Navalny. Through all of these news cycles, there has been a consistent response from the so-called New Right, which overlaps with the MAGA movement. That refrain has been to diminish Russian evils and exaggerate those of the United States.
Moscow has been hailed as a wonderful world metropolis as compared to all American cities, Vladimir Putin’s false history has been lauded as impressive and factual, and Russian leaders have been credited as conservatives worthy of emulation. Most galling, however, is the rising segment of the right that views the governments of Washington and Moscow as essentially the same. They label America as a veiled dictatorship that represses dissent against the ‘regime’ just as much as Russia does. These sentiments have been espoused by everyone from social media influencers and pundits to former Speakers of the House and sitting US Senators. These newfangled useful idiots echo – consciously or not – Kremlin propaganda. And they’re entirely wrong.
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