Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) expressed serious concern about recent statements by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) at a Trump rally, where she insisted Republican control of Congress would mean aid for Ukraine in its fight against Russia would stop.
“This is exactly what Putin wants. If we’d had Republicans like this in the 1980s, we would have lost the Cold War,” Cheney posted on Twitter. Greene — as could be expected — was eager to reply. “There are two things that are in the past,” she angrily shot back. “1. You and your Daddy’s Republican Party that sent our military to fight foreign wars on the backs of American tax dollars and didn’t win a damn thing. 2. You.” In response, Cheney roasted the Georgia Congresswoman’s ignorance, providing observers with a useful set of reminders. “Here’s some history for you, Marjorie,” Cheney said. “Russia was part of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was Communist. Putin was a member of the KGB. Communism & KGB = bad. America won the Cold War. It was a great victory for freedom. Now you stand with Putin against freedom & America.”
Here’s some history for you, Marjorie. Russia was part of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union was Communist.
Putin was a member of the KGB.
Communism & KGB = bad.America won the Cold War.
It was a great victory for freedom.
Now you stand with Putin against freedom & America. https://t.co/DbpqxfuYci— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) November 4, 2022
Greene has expressed some version of support for Putin throughout the country’s months-long campaign of devastating violence against Ukraine — a war that, although kickstarted by a February invasion, Russian forces actually started years earlier, some have noted. In this instance, leaving Ukraine without U.S. financial or military support could let the Russian government operate — and kill Ukrainian civilians — nearly with impunity, meaning Greene is implicitly providing direct support to Putin’s ambitions. It’s not a simply humanitarian concern. In Europe, Russian forces also linger close to the eastern border of NATO, and although the U.S. and NATO have established zero interest in direct conflict with Russia, boosting the world’s defenses against the Putin regime’s aggression supports those opposing Putin everywhere.
Quoting former official Henry Kissinger, Greene complained in April that the “demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy; it is an alibi for the absence of one.” She posted that within days of images of atrocities by Russian forces against Ukrainian civilians in Bucha beginning to emerge and circulate. What’s the point of that kind of dismissal of the seriousness of atrocities committed elsewhere in the world? Although prioritizing the interests of the United States, as certain Trump-aligned Republicans claim to pursue with their approach to policy, already doesn’t require ignoring the world, openly appeasing dictators barely even seems conceivably necessary for their already barely defensible approach. Even accepting isolation, why this? Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who could become House Speaker if the GOP wins the House this year, already downplayed (in vaguer terms) the prospect of a Republican majority in the chamber approving further aid for Ukraine, and Greene has also spoken about a push for a higher profile on her part in a potentially looming GOP majority.
