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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s press conference on Friday covered a fair amount of ground, but there was one exchange of particular interest. A reporter asked specifically about the small House Republican contingent that’s bucking the party on Russia-related matters:
“Eight of your members voted against trade sanctions yesterday, 15 voted against oil sanctions last week. One of your members put out a Twitter thread on what she referred to as ‘NATO Nazis.’ Are you worried that a small group of vocal right-wing members with very large platforms are going to cloud the GOP’s otherwise overwhelming support for Ukraine?”
The House GOP leader responded, “No. Next question.”
There’s an old expression about the first step toward solving a problem is admitting you have a problem. When it comes to the GOP’s so-called “Putin wing,” the would-be House Speaker appears content to effectively ask, “What problem?”
His counterpart in the upper chamber, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell faced related questions on CBS’s “Face the Nation” yesterday, and offered a related response. Host Margaret Brennan asked whether there’s room in the Republican Party for anti-Ukraine, pro-Russia rhetoric during the brutal war.
The Kentucky Republican was dismissive of the “lonely voices” in his party that are out of step with the political mainstream. McConnell added, “I wouldn’t pay much attention to them.”
As a partisan matter, the minority leaders’ position makes obvious sense. If I worked in either of their offices, I’d advise them to say exactly what they have said.
But McCarthy’s and McConnell’s rhetoric is unsatisfying for a reason.
For one thing, if the Democratic Party had a loud contingent echoing Kremlin rhetoric and offering soundbites that are on frequent rotation in Russian state-controlled media, I have a hunch GOP leaders wouldn’t be content to dismiss them as “lonely” and irrelevant voices.
For another, ignoring the Republican Party’s “Putin wing” doesn’t make it go away.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example, released a video last week in which the Georgia Republican called on the United States to end its support for Ukraine so that our allies will lose and Russia will win the war faster. This was, as a Washington Post analysis put it, “precisely the propaganda that Russia has promoted.”
As we’ve discussed, she has plenty of company. Donald Trump praised Vladimir Putin’s efforts in Ukraine as “genius” and “very savvy.” Soon after, retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor, a Pentagon official in the Trump administration, argued that the United States should “absolutely” just let Putin take what he wants in Ukraine.
On Capitol Hill a few weeks ago, a handful of GOP House members opposed a non-binding resolution in support of Ukraine. Soon after, 15 House Republicans opposed a bill to ban oil imports from Russia, and eight GOP House members opposed removing Russia’s trade status.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, on the heels of voting against the symbolic resolution in support of Ukraine, amplified false Russian claims about Ukrainian biological labs. And Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina famously condemned Zelenskyy as a “thug” leading an “evil” government.
It would be unfair to suggest that this contingent is large or even dominant in contemporary GOP politics. It plainly is not. But if Republican leaders believe ignoring it will stop it from growing, they’re likely to be disappointed.