[View here as a Twitter thread]
What’s up with all the Trump-GOP-Russia love? Spoiler: I suggest the GOP isn’t playing footsies with Russia because they’re compromised. They WANT the alliance. Among other things, they see Russia as the savior of the white race. http://time.com/5451539/putin-trump-thumbs-up-paris-wwi-commemoration/
Richard Spencer, a leading American white supremacist, called Russia the “sole white power in the world.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2018/05/08/how-vladimir-putin-became-the-worlds-favorite-dictator/?utm_term=.9312951757a5 …Right wing media has strong connections to Russia: A Breitbart reporter is now hosting a Russian propaganda radio show.
Spencer says this: “America is ultimately a nation derived from Europe. It has an Anglo-Protestant core . . .” and “European-Americans are being dispossessed.” https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/91921974-132.html …America in the 1920s (and before) was white-male dominated, with enormous income inequality.
5% of families could afford college for their children. No income taxes and no minimum wage meant people with money lived like kings. Everyone else toiled without hope of economic advancement. This is exactly how things are now in Russia—and is what GOP policies aim for.
Since the 30s, the GOP has been trying to repeal the New Deal. Why do you think the libertarians like Trump so much? MAGA means Take America Back to the 1920s—before the liberal SCOTUS decisions (like Brown v. Board) set in motion the Civil Rights and women’s rights movements.
Katie Hopkins, pictured here with Ann Coulter, praises Russia as being “untouched by the myth of cultural multiculturalism and deranged diversity,” https://www.rt.com/uk/429777-katie-hopkins-russia-multiculturalism/ …Yup. Russia is a homophobic white dictatorship untouched by “deranged diversity.”
Russia long ago won the hearts of American evangelicals when the US passed gay-rights laws and Putin’s Russia became openly homophobic. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/how-russia-became-a-leader-of-the-worldwide-christian-right-214755 …I could fill long threads with evangelical-Russia and American right-wing media-Russia connections.
In July Fox News began to “actively push” Russia as America’s new ally. https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1019977664113860608 …Fox’s Tucker Carlson said Trump was right and the US should “rethink America’s alliances.” White supremacy isn’t the only reason the American right wing is eager to embrace Russia.
Another reason: Money. Lots of it. I could fill threads with examples of decades of Russian money pouring into the GOP and NRA as far back as the 80s. Russians after all made Trump wealthyhttps://twitter.com/Teri_Kanefield/status/1042073153772474369 …Recent example: Vekselberg gave Michael Cohen $500K in 2016.
Senator Rand Paul (a libertarian) tweeted that he agrees with Carlson: America should rethink its alliances. https://twitter.com/randpaul/status/1019920118598590464?lang=enc …He then went to Russia to “open lines of communication.” https://abcnews.go.com/International/sen-rand-paul-meets-russian-senators-moscow-invites/story?id=57057225 …
In 2016, 49% of Trump supporters believed Russia was a friend / ally of the U.S. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/poll-trump-supporters-warm-to-russia-229874 …Presumably with Fox pushing Russia as an ally, that number will go up.
Yes, Russia has a classic tactic of gathering Kompromat against political opponents. But believing that the GOP is embracing Putin because they are afraid or being coerced by blackmail is to overlook the real problem. It also gives undeserved credit to the GOP.
Stonekettle puts the matter bluntly: https://twitter.com/Stonekettle/status/1061650723132317697 …In 2016, many people didn’t understand that in supporting Trump they were voting for oligarchy over democracy, and that they were putting Putin’s Russia ahead of fellow Americans (Democrats). (Of course, many did)
