Hang Vladimir Putin Around Donald Trump's Neck

Before I’m accused of plagiarism, I want to admit: I stole that line and the very last line in this column from Bill Kristol, former editor of The Weekly Standard, now editor of The Bulwark newsletter. Because they’re so good, so true, and so sum up the politics of the moment.

After all, it’s already official. The primaries aren’t over, but we already know who the two major parties are going to nominate for president. For Democrats, Joe Biden. For Republicans, Vladimir Putin.

Of course, because Putin is not American-born, Republicans can’t put his name on the ballot. So they’ll put Donald Trump’s name on the ballot, instead. Which is the same thing. There’s no daylight between the two.

Many people expressed surprise that Trump didn’t immediately blame Putin for the murder of Alexei Navalny. Are you kidding? Of course he didn’t. Because Trump believes this is what dictators should be free to do, and what he’d like to do if, god forbid, ever re- elected. Only a few weeks ago, Trump’s lawyers argued in court that, as president, he should be able to send a Navy Seals team to assassinate his political opponent – and still enjoy total immunity under the law. Just like Putin.

And that’s not the first time Trump’s defended Putin for ordering the assassination of his political enemies. Even Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly was surprised on Super Bowl Sunday 2017 when Trump lavished praise on Putin. “But, he’s a killer,” O’Reilly protested. “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?” Trump replied.

Trump’s never condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, either. In fact, just the opposite. On many occasions, he’s called Putin a “genius” for invading Ukraine. “I’d say that’s pretty smart,” he told a fundraiser crowd at Mar-a-Lago days after the invasion. “He’s taking over a country – really a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people, and just walking right in.” Plus, Trump neglected to say, murdering 10,000 innocent Ukrainian civilians as of September 2023.

Trump and Putin share their disdain for NATO. Putin uses it as a fig leaf for invading Ukraine. Trump just wants to get rid of NATO altogether – with Russia’s help! He told a South Carolina rally last week he’d encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t pay its dues on time.

Wait! Stop for a minute and wrap your head around that one. Instead of defending our allies, for a former American president to invite Russia to invade one of our allies is mind-blowing – even from Donald Trump!

The autocrat and would-be-autocrat also agree on fair elections. Russia’s never had one under Putin. America will never have another one if Donald Trump is re- elected. Trump still claims he won the 2020 election. He still insists that he won the popular vote in 2016, neither of which is true.

Trump also denies he had any help from Russia in 2016. While admitting that all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies warned him about Russia’s interference in the 2016 campaign, Trump said he believed Putin, instead. “My people came to me. They said they think it’s Russia,” he told reporters at a Helsinki news conference with Putin in July 2018. “I have President Putin. He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.” And intelligence agencies report Russia’s already meddling in the 2024 election, third one in a row.

Who knows? Whether Trump has a man-crush on Putin or, as many suspect, Putin has something on him, Donald Trump can’t quit Vladimir Putin. And, what’s even more disgusting, spineless MAGA Republicans like Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and J.D. Vance have also become Putin cheerleaders. None worse than Speaker Mike Johnson who was once for continued aid to Ukraine before he came out against it. He won’t even schedule the Ukraine bill for a vote on the floor because he knows it would pass – and Donny and Vlad would not be happy. They could all take a lesson in courage from Alexei Navalny.

Whatever the reason, that rumble you hear is coming from Simi Valley, California: Ronald Reagan rolling in his grave, watching today’s Republicans defend the “evil empire.” Here’s the issue Democrats can win on in 2024. Thanks to Donald Trump, the party of Reagan is now the party of Putin. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for Vladimir Putin.

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(Bill Press is host of The BillPressPod, and author of 10 books, including: “From the Left: My Life in the Crossfire.” His email address is: bill@billpress.com. Readers may also follow him on Twitter @billpresspod.)