In a new video from The Lincoln Project, the group tears into the Republicans who’ve somehow struggled to come up with unequivocal condemnations for Russian leader Vladimir Putin amid the carnage that his forces are responsible for in Ukraine. This matter shouldn’t be complicated — Putin’s army has attacked civilian population centers across Ukraine. In Bucha, a recently liberated suburb of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Russians killed hundreds — bodies were found with hands tied, and others were found amid routine scenes of daily life, showcasing the indiscriminate nature of Putin’s violence. The new video from The Lincoln Project features comments broadly supportive of or at least excusatory towards Putin from an array of prominent Republicans, including Donald Trump, Fox host Tucker Carlson, longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, and Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
Audio clips of these comments are played alongside graphic images of the atrocities that Russian forces have inflicted on the civilian population in Ukraine, making it clear what’s at stake. Republican support for Putin’s cause isn’t meaningless — it’s propping up a murderous authoritarian regime that the Biden administration and others have assessed to be responsible for war crimes. And these aren’t baseless assessments — the evidence is right there in areas inside Ukraine that have been affected by Russian attacks, and any Republican who decides to stick with a pro-Putin line amidst these horrors is an apologist for what former champion boxer-turned-member of the Ukrainian military Wladimir Klitschko described as “genocide,” as The Lincoln Project’s video highlights. The video concludes with a message on-screen stating, “It’s not genius. It’s genocide.” Trump previously described Putin as a “genius” for certain moves he took right before the full-fledged invasion began. Watch The Lincoln Project’s sobering new video below:
The world stands with Ukraine.
Republicans stand with Putin.pic.twitter.com/25wmI5dSKd— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) April 4, 2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha this week. Journalists were there during his visit, and discussing the travesties in the town and across Ukraine, the Ukrainian leader remarked, “It is very important for us that journalists are here. We want you to show the world what was happening here, what the Russian military was doing, what the Russian Federation was doing in peaceful Ukraine… These are war crimes and they will be recognized by the world as genocide. We are aware of thousands of people killed and tortured, with their limbs cut off. Raped women, murdered children. I believe this is genocide.” Trump, meanwhile, stated at a recent rally in Georgia that when in office he allegedly told a fellow world leader involved in NATO that the United States wouldn’t honor its treaty obligations associated with the alliance to defend a member country attacked by Russia if that country had unpaid “bills.” Russian leadership would no doubt love to hear of the possibility of the U.S. abandoning its allies to Putin’s violence — Trump seems likely to run again, and he could win. Trump also — amid these horrors — recently took the opportunity to beg for Putin to release purportedly damaging information on the Bidens, once again turning to a murderous authoritarian for political help.
⚡️Governor: Russian troops leave Zhytomyr Oblast.
Vitaliy Bunechko said there are no more Russian troops in the region’s territory but mines pose danger and there are still threats of possible Russian missile attacks.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 4, 2022
