You forgot a chunk of the US right actively supporting Russia and praising Putin as savior of the West.
They aren’t the majority but are influential.
Xi Xinpeng should take a lesson here. Apparently all you have to do is dunk on gay people and pay lip service to right wing culture war stuff and they’ll roll over. You don’t even have to mean it. (Every core statistic the right claims to care about is worse in Russia like birth rate, divorce, abortion, etc.)
I hang out with people of a huge range of political views, from classical Marxist-Leninists to earnest tear-it-down anarchists, from neolib Obama stans to full magapedes.
I've yet to meet a single one who "actively supports Russia and praises Putin as savior of the West". Like, literally not one. The only time I've _ever_ heard this viewpoint uttered in North America is when people online are sketching it out online as a bogeyman. Even on the trashier, more marginal sides of Twitter it's still America First - I just don't know who these people are that you and others in this thread are so concerned about.
Have you personally met someone who believes that crap? Who, given the option, would prefer a world of Russian hegemony over American? I think we're getting mad at a population that in North America doesn't really exist in any meaningful way.
Usually, I believe the underlying reasoning is that they think someone is not pro-war enough, or anti-the guy enough, when they accuse someone of being pro the guy. Like secret supporters or something. Because actual pro the guy seem extremely rare.
My dad praises Putin as a good leader. He sees Putin as someone who is merely capitalizing on the weakness of Biden, and that Putin was scared of Trump. In his mind, Putin invading Ukraine is the fault of everyone who voted for Biden. It's stupid an illogical, but it is his legitimate opinion on the matter.
He's not even a fringe case either, just your standard old dude who parrots whatever crap Fox News is spewing.
Your average MAGA is a conservative who cares about things like low taxes and gun rights but who is also protectionist on trade and immigration. This is a change from the older Bush and Reagan conservatives who tended to be neoliberal. They may or may not care much about culture war stuff. Some do and some don’t.
I’m talking about ideologues and movement people. I have run into a few of these people in the wild, mostly neoreactionaries, trads, and neo-racists who use terms like “race realism.” I haven’t personally run into really hard core neo-Nazi types in my circles but those exist too.
A lot of the above either admire Putin directly or at least see him as an example of the kind of strong man ruler they think we should have.
It’s not clear to me whether the ideological affinity is mutual though. Putin’s Carlson interview seemed dismissive but Putin has dog whistled to these crowds. Maybe he’s just doing it for propaganda reasons and could personally care less.
There’s also a big claim about Putin being heavily influenced by Alexandr Dugin but I’ve heard others claim this is hugely overblown.
They aren’t the majority but are influential.
Xi Xinpeng should take a lesson here. Apparently all you have to do is dunk on gay people and pay lip service to right wing culture war stuff and they’ll roll over. You don’t even have to mean it. (Every core statistic the right claims to care about is worse in Russia like birth rate, divorce, abortion, etc.)