At this year’s third annual America First Political Action Conference, which was set to go down in Orlando, Florida, around the same time and in the same city as the latest installment of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), organizer Nick Fuentes asked attendees to provide a “round of applause for Russia” amid that country’s leaders’ ongoing aggression against Ukraine. Attendees then began chanting Putin’s name. The thing is — the America First Political Action Conference is not just a fringe event. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) spoke at a past edition of the event, and he also appeared this year via video, while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — a close Trump ally — also showed up as things kicked off this year. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) condemned it all over the weekend. As Cheney put it:
‘As Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep Paul Gosar speak at this white supremacist, anti-Semitic, pro-Putin event, silence by Republican Party leaders is deafening and enabling. All Americans should renounce this garbage and reject the Putin wing of the GOP now.’
As Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep Paul Gosar speak at this white supremacist, anti-Semitic, pro-Putin event, silence by Republican Party leaders is deafening and enabling.
All Americans should renounce this garbage and reject the Putin wing of the GOP now. pic.twitter.com/6fgpV6ohZ8
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) February 26, 2022
Just to be clear regarding the nature of the event at which Greene spoke in Orlando this past Friday, a speaker who followed the Georgia Congresswoman told attendees that “Western white culture is the majority culture, to which even non-whites assimilate into today — and they’re better off for it.” This event isn’t marketing some kind of under-the-table racism — as Cheney pointedly noted, it’s white supremacy. Another fellow speaker at the event where Greene appeared falsely claimed, referring to COVID-19, that Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health “literally unleashed a bio weapon on the world,” adding: “Why is this man running around free instead of hanging on the end of a noose somewhere?” As for the affinity for Putin that’s been increasingly on display in certain right-wing circles, Trump himself characterized the authoritarian Russian leader as “very savvy” after the Russian regime rolled out recognition for two independent countries within the boundaries of Ukraine and announced troop deployment plans for the areas. (Trump made those remarks before the full-fledged invasion began, but after Russian aggression targeting Ukraine had been continuing for some time.)
Now would be a good time for news outlets to revisit (in detail) Paul Manafort’s efforts in Ukraine on behalf of pro-Russian interests and why the FBI was clearly justified in trying to figure out what he was up to in the Trump campaign in 2016. Oh, and that Trump pardoned him
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 26, 2022
