by Rithvik Chavali (’24) | March 1, 2024
The Republican Party. The Grand Old Party. Since the Reagan Era, the conservative party of the United States has represented the quintessential “American Party.” Once staunchly opposing Russia, the Republican Party has now seen a change in course, one that portrays Russia in a sympathetic light. Why? Trump was elected.
Trump’s rise to political power is one of surprise and of confusion. A popular figure outside of politics, his rhetoric and common slogans—“Make America Great Again”—propelled him into the spotlight.
The dynamic of the Republican Party soon changed after Trump’s rise. Party alliances were now shifted strictly to Trump, and extreme right-wing conservative pundits rose to popularity. Additionally, when Trump first entered office, he seemed to have a somewhat friendly relationship with Russian president Vladmir Putin.
Mainstream conservatives followed suit. In a recent interview with Putin, Tucker Carlson, a conservative who made his career off of bashing “wokeness” and loyalty to Trump, praised Putin for his management of crime and the beautification of its subway, a significant talking point for most conservative supporters of Putin. Most notably, Carlson strangely praised Russian McDonalds for their cheap and good-quality menu, but he failed to mention that families in Russia earn substantially low wages.
Recently, Alexei Navalny, an outspoken critic of Putin, passed away. His death comes after he was recently sentenced to prison for promoting “extremist” actions by essentially criticizing Putin and his regime. While jailed in a remote location in Russia’s northern territories, Navalny fell ill while walking and suddenly died. Navalny’s arrest and death are another in a line of crackdowns on free speech, freedom, and substantive liberties by Putin. This is not the first time a critic of Putin’s regime was killed; a soldier who defected from the Russian army was found in Spain with bullet holes in his body. The contrast between freedom in the United States and Russia’s society could not be more clear.
The far-right sees Putin as an ally. He punishes theft, keeps his country orderly, and is a fierce nationalist. In Carlson’s interview, he justifies his brutal invasion of Ukraine by talking about Russia’s historical claims to Ukraine, parts of Crimea, and land near the Black Sea, all due to Russia’s expansive history from the formation of Kievan Rus to the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is strikingly similar to beliefs held among many extreme conservatives. Christian nationalists and white nationalists, to name a few, reverently worship Trump’s nativist rhetoric and evocation of America’s past. All the same, it is safe to say that Trump attempts to promulgate intense nationalism in white middle-class workers.
As long as Putin is in power, I cannot see how the United States or any citizen of the United States can view Russia as a friend or ally. Putin has shown time and time again that he is willing to overstep the boundaries of international peace and national sovereignty. He routinely suppresses the freedoms and liberties of the Russian people, indiscriminately jailing and executing dissenters within his government. Russia’s economy is controlled by oligarchs who don’t care about the well-being of the average citizen. Putin and his cronies represent what the United States is trying to fight against: dictatorships and autocratic regimes. By openly supporting Putin, the far right proves that they do not believe in the values of the United States, such as life, liberty, or freedom. The hypocrisy in the far right’s beliefs—how they view freedom in the US and in Russia—merely challenges the fundamental values of the United States.
