During an appearance on CBS’s Face The Nation over the weekend, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) — who is an active lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, in addition to his Congressional service — went directly after his fellow Republicans who have recently taken to pushing rhetoric that’s in line with the agenda of Russian leaders including Vladimir Putin. Examples include Fox host Tucker Carlson — whose show is viewed by millions — and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the latter of whom recently pushed the Biden administration to drop the longstanding U.S. support for Ukraine eventually joining NATO — an alliance that Russian officials want to see Ukraine kept out of. Asked about the portion of the Republican Party that is essentially parroting pro-Putin talking points, Kinzinger commented as follows:
‘I don’t think it’s a huge portion, but it’s way too big, and it’s growing. And it’s a huge concern… Now, there’s a significant number of folks doing it, with Tucker Carlson talking about how great Vladimir Putin is and how Ukraine is really actually part of Russia. I think it’s a couple things. Number one, it could be some naivete on foreign policy — not in Tucker’s case. I think it’s an affection for authoritarianism, and I think Vladimir Putin has done a decent job of engaging in culture battles and culture war. And he is seen as the person defending in essence the culture of the past… Any Republican that has affection for Vladimir Putin has no understanding of what our party stands for or our country stands for.’
Check out Kinzinger’s comments below:
Adam Kinzinger on faction of pro-Putin Republicans: "It's way too big & it's growing, & it's a huge concern … it's an affection for authoritarianism … any Republican that has affection for Putin has no understanding of what our party stands for or what our country stands for" pic.twitter.com/rVgqVg2LYX
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 13, 2022
Hawley justified his position regarding support for Ukraine’s prospective membership in NATO by insisting that having to defend the country under the alliance’s obligations in the event of their inclusion would impede the U.S. from effectively going after threats posed by China. Any way that you cut it, though: he was promoting an outcome in line with the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Hawley already got condemned by the White House over it, with Biden administration press secretary Jen Psaki having insisted that if “you are digesting Russian misinformation and parroting Russian talking points, you are not aligned with longstanding, bipartisan American values, which [are] to stand up for the sovereignty of countries like Ukraine, [and] others — their right to choose their own alliances, and also to stand against, very clearly, the efforts, or attempts, or potential attempts by any country to invade and take territory of another country.”
Rep. Kinzinger: "This is a defining moment in American politics. And in the RNC's future: are you for authoritarianism, are you against democracy, or are you going to wake up to that slide?" https://t.co/OXbRvORq1Y
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 14, 2022
All of these developments have been unfolding as Ukraine faces the possibility of further military action by Russia, which has been setting up a large military build-up on the smaller country’s border. U.S. officials have been seemingly preparing for the worst, just in case it takes place: United States diplomatic and military personnel have been revealed as on the way out of Ukraine, and officials have pushed for private U.S. citizens there to also leave. There is apparently no plan for a U.S. military presence inside of Ukraine to counter potentially imminent Russian military action.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger tells CBS he "fully" expects Rudy Giuliani to cooperate with the Jan. 6 Committee's subpoena.
"Our expectation is he is going to cooperate because that’s the law, that’s the requirement."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 14, 2022
