In a startling moment from a recent interview with longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, outspoken Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) basically got behind Russia’s cause, at least on the religious front, in the context of the unfolding war being waged by that country’s authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin against Ukraine.
“Let’s talk about what this really is, Steve,” Greene said on Bannon’s show. “This is a war on Christianity. The Ukrainian government is attacking Christians. The Ukrainian government is executing priests. Russia is not doing that. They’re not attacking Christianity. As a matter of fact, they seem to be protecting it. So that’s something else that’s clear and obvious to many people that are looking closely at what’s going on.”
It’s unclear what Greene is referencing in terms of “executing priests,” although there is ample documentation of Russian forces threatening or outright killing Ukrainian religious personnel.
Greene and political allies of hers have an extensive history of clamoring against Ukraine in the context of its conflict with Russia, complaining often about U.S. assistance with security proposed or actually provided for the Eastern European country. That help has most prominently taken the form of weapons deliveries, around which some have pointed to economic boosts for U.S. communities. No U.S. troops are directly involving themselves in the conflict, and there’s no indication of that changing in the near — or far! — future.
Accountable GOP, a political organization, said that with the interview, “Marjorie Taylor Greene once again does Putin’s bidding.” (They also helped spread the footage in the first place.)
Republicans against Trump, a similar group, spoke similarly. “Russia had bombed and destroyed hundreds of churches in Ukraine, you lying POS traitor,” they wrote on X (Twitter).
A Democratic candidate for the U.S. House from New Jersey suggested Greene was somehow on the take. “This is a republican member of Congress Stumping for Russia. This is 100% taken right from Russian propaganda. What is she getting for it?” Matt Jenkins said on the same platform.
