In a 2017 lecture at Hillsdale College, Christopher Caldwell of the Claremont Institute said, “If we use traditional means of understanding leaders, including border defense and national prosperity, Putin He can be counted as one of the outstanding politicians of our time.” In Caldwell’s words, Putin is “not the head of a feminist NGO. He is not a transgender rights activist. He is a member of the United Nations appointed by the United Nations to create and distribute slideshows on green energy.” It’s not an ombudsman.”
In 2021, Rod Dreher of the American Conservative Party praised President Putin’s speech condemning the West, saying he and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán “argued about the woke and socially destructive nature of the post-liberal left. That’s completely clear and completely correct.” (Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that Mr. Dreher explicitly condemns Putin’s aggression.) 2022 between Steve Bannon and Erik Prince, founder of private military contractor Blackwater. The exchange was even more illustrative. Bannon hosted Prince on his podcast shortly after Putin’s invasion and declared Putin an “anti-woke.” Prince responded supportively that Russian citizens “still know which toilet to use.” And Bannon kept that idea alive, asking, “How many people of each gender are there in Russia?”
Jordan Peterson, on the other hand, went so far as to suggest that Russia’s aggressive attacks may have simply been self-defense against the threat of cultural decadence in the West. He said the culture war was “severe enough to make it more likely that Russia would invade and potentially cripple Ukraine just to keep out the sick West, which has historically been an important part of Russia.” It might be something,” he thought. Impact range. ”
There’s an old saying: “My enemy’s enemy is my friend.” Ideally, this phrase means that Americans will put aside their domestic differences to address foreign threats to the nation. But in this era of hyperpolarization, the far right is interpreting this equation exactly the other way around. They support Vladimir Putin because they, too, see him in contrast to their domestic enemies.
Before the war, MAGA combined hostility toward Ukraine with admiration for Putin to create a very specific narrative. The idea was that a rugged, masculine, traditional Russia, physically and mentally stronger than the liberalizing West, would overthrow Ukraine with only token resistance. Indeed, before the war, Ted Cruz share He tweeted a contrast between Russian and American military ads. U.S. advertising shows that our military has been “woke” and “eviscerated,” he argued. However, the Russian advertisements had a whiff of masculine aggression. How could any Western country, let alone tiny Ukraine, stand up to such manly men?