What understanding does Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) actually have about what has been transpiring in the world recently?
With a revolt against Putin’s general leadership erupting in Russia from some of those involved in the authoritarian leader’s war in Ukraine, many turned to contemplating the situation… and Boebert, as though she’d never read the news before, asserted online that the world had been, uh, different when Donald Trump was in office. “I still remember when President Trump was the leader of the free world and you didn’t have wild conflicts all over the world going on constantly,” Boebert said. “How I miss those days! It’s time to bring leadership back!” …What is she talking about?
The statement feels flatly outlandish enough that a comprehensive fact-check wouldn’t even be needed to get the picture. “I am retweeting without comment this statement about what is happening to Putin by a Republican Member of Congress,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) posted online, clearly as incredulous as the rest of us at the Coloradan’s statements. There were several actual coups in Africa alone while Donald Trump was in office as president, not to mention the instances of violence different in scope but still substantial in nature that were seen elsewhere. And then domestically, even the gun violence crisis in the United States could probably count as such a situation, considering the staggering scope of loss!
“I remember when members of the GOP weren’t apologist mouthpieces for Putin,” Stephanie Schmid, a former member of the nation’s diplomatic personnel at the State Department said, replying to Boebert. “I also remember when Wagner Group was indicted for illegally influencing the 2016 election for Russia & Putin’s preferred candidate Comrade Trump. You & your [clown car] of comrades can sit down & shut up.” Schmid’s State Department career stretched over seven years, her LinkedIn profile says.
Schmid is, of course, on to something. Throughout the violence in Ukraine, various figures from Donald Trump himself to the now fired Fox host Tucker Carlson have provided what’s effectively been cover for Putin’s position. Republicans in Congress have also taken up that mantle, with figures like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) spreading abjectly false characterizations of the U.S. assistance for Ukraine that’s been given.
I remember when members of the GOP weren’t apologist mouthpieces for Putin. I also remember when Wagner Group was indicted for illegally influencing the 2016 election for Russia & Putin’s preferred candidate Comrade Trump. You & your 🤡 🚗 of comrades can sit down & shut up. https://t.co/xHu0Fp1lV3
— Stephanie Schmid (@StephLSchmid) June 24, 2023
