The modern conservative movement that cut its teeth in the Cold War with Russia is now riven by deep divisions over how to handle the Eurasian giant and its ruthless leader, Vladimir Putin.
Many conservatives, led by former President Donald Trump, question the U.S. role in helping Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion. Some are broadly skeptical of most international commitments, and others question President Biden’s handling of Russia or even admire Mr. Putin.
Benjamin H. Friedman, policy director at Defense Priorities, a Washington think tank, said Russia has become central to the right’s image of itself and Mr. Biden.
“I think one big effect of the Trump administration was to make Russia, and by extension Ukraine, a very partisan issue and to breed all kinds of sympathy for Russia among Republicans, largely because they see it as part of their conservative identity and a way to oppose the establishment that is more hawkish on Russia,” he said.
Mr. Trump’s most recent foray into U.S.-Russian matters was at CNN’s town hall this month. The former president refused more than once to pick sides between Ukraine and Russia.
He said the important thing was brokering a peace deal.
“I don’t think in terms of winning and losing,” he said. “I think in terms of getting it settled so we stop killing all these people.”
Mr. Trump had years of interactions with Mr. Putin, including some one-on-one talks where not even his advisers knew what was said. That infuriated the left and fueled wild speculation about Russia having the goods on Mr. Trump and the now-discredited claims that Mr. Trump colluded with the Kremlin to win the 2016 election.
Although Mr. Trump has had some oddly fawning moments of praise for Mr. Putin, his supporters say a much more basic idea is behind his reluctance to pick sides in the war.
“When Trump first ran, his populist movement was based on three things: bringing jobs back to America through tariffs, closing the border and getting out of these wars,” said John Fredericks, a radio host and co-chair of Mr. Trump’s 2016 Virginia campaign. “This isn’t about a victory. This is about lives being saved. Trump’s position on that has never wavered.”
Those surprised by Mr. Trump’s reluctance to embrace support for Ukraine don’t understand the principles of Mr. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, Mr. Fredericks said.
Skepticism over foreign entanglements runs deep within the Republican Party.
A recent Pew Research survey found that Republican voters, by a 71% to 29% margin, want the U.S. to focus on problems at home rather than paying attention to problems overseas. That has spread 17 percentage points since 2019.
“Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party are more likely to want to pay attention to domestic issues, rather than be active in foreign affairs, and are more inclined to say the U.S. should follow its own interests,” according to the Pew poll analysis.
Pew also said Republicans are marginally more favorable than Democrats toward Mr. Putin.
The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy released a poll last month that found 52% of MAGA-identifying Republicans think Mr. Putin is a better president than Mr. Biden.
Most of the party’s prominent voices in Washington, including many of Mr. Trump’s former Cabinet members, do support active U.S. support for Ukraine.
They include former Vice President Mike Pence. He said the U.S. should embrace an update of the Reagan Doctrine to support anti-Russia forces. The Reagan administration supported anti-communist insurgents wherever they might be.
“Ukraine is willing to fight, so let’s give them the support they need to win so we don’t have to fight ourselves,” Mr. Pence said at a recent event by the conservative advocacy group FreedomWorks. “We don’t have to choose between prosperity at home and security abroad. Those who claim we do have a pretty small view of the greatest nation on earth.”
Nikki Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations and official contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said it is wrong to “say the U.S. shouldn’t care about Ukraine because this war isn’t our fight.”
“They say we should ignore Ukraine so we can focus on China,” she said in a recent op-ed. “That is backward. China loses if Ukraine wins.”
Sen. Tim Scott, who announced his presidential bid Monday, has voted to send more assistance to Ukraine. Last year, he said, “The Biden administration has led from behind — waiting too long to provide too little support.”
Mr. Scott, South Carolina Republican, more recently has called for increased accountability of how Ukraine is spending U.S. money and warned that China is backing Russia.
Other Republican presidential hopefuls take the Trump route or hedge their bets by saying the United States has shouldered too much of the financial burden after sending an estimated $75 billion in humanitarian, economic and military aid to Ukraine.
That includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to announce his run for the Republican presidential nomination this week. He recently described the Russian invasion as a “territorial dispute.”
Mr. DeSantis said he is more concerned about “securing our own border in the United States than I do about the Russia-Ukraine border.”
“It seems like the establishment … they ignore the problems that we have here at home as Americans,” he said.
Mr. DeSantis said the nation could hurt Mr. Putin more by unleashing the nation’s energy supplies rather than supporting an “open-ended blank check policy.”
Vivek Ramaswamy, an underdog contender in the Republican presidential race, is running on a similar message. He said he would not spend another dime of taxpayers’ money “directly supporting Ukraine.”
He added the caveat: “I don’t think it was a good thing that Russia invaded Ukraine. It is not like I am rooting for Russia to win this.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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