Responding to the Conservative Political Action Conference’s (CPAC) since-deleted tweet of pro-Russia rhetoric amid President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of four Ukrainian territories, “Morning Joe” slammed the conservative political organization Monday for making such a “colossal mistake” in the first place.
Following up a message he tweeted over the weekend, in which he denounced such “unfiltered Russian propaganda,” co-host Joe Scarborough said that as much as the sentiment troubles him, he’s not all that surprised, considering how far right former president Donald Trump has led the Republican party.
“I’ve been talking about it for some time. This was, believe it or not, not shocking to many of us, unfortunately,” Scarborough said Monday. “Because whether the strong man is Trump or whether it’s [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán, who brags about pushing liberal democracy to the side, or Putin, there has been this bizarre fixation with the Trump far right. And we see it here.”
CPAC’s original tweet posted Friday read: “Vladimir Putin announces the annexation of 4 Ukrainian-occupied territories. Biden and the Dems continue to send Ukraine billions of taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile, we are under attack at our southern border. When will Democrats put #AmericaFirst and end the gift-giving to Ukraine?”
Referring to the annexed territories as “Ukrainian-occupied” implies that the rightful claim to the land is Russia’s, a stance that the U.S. has widely condemned. CPAC’s tweet also featured an image of a Russian flag and proclaimed that the annexation was “official” in another image that listed the territories.
CPAC backtracked on its Friday tweet, deleting it three hours later and eventually posting a second statement on Saturday.
“Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine must be repelled,” CPAC tweeted. “Putin is a madman that is putting millions of lives at risk with his loose talk of nuclear war. We must oppose Putin, but American taxpayers should not be shouldering the vast majority of the cost.”
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis, a “Morning Joe” guest on Monday, was notably disheartened by the message.
“It’s a colossal mistake for anybody to lean against freedom, democracy, courage and the stamina [and] true grit of the Ukranians,” Stavridis said. “It’s just been remarkable to watch what they have achieved when the odds were stacked against them eight months ago, at the beginning of this conflict. They are literally on the frontlines of freedom. And when they look over their shoulders, they’re defending the values that we hold dearest. And so I am perplexed that any organization could stand up and be critical of this incredible show of courage and this display of doing the right thing, which is what we see the Ukrainians doing.”
He continued, optimistically: “There’s still a great deal of bipartisan support that goes across the political divide. This is one of those issues where we must absolutely stand together as a nation because Russia is watching. The Kremlin is watching. Our allies are watching. And when they see divisions here, the likelihood of them continuing to stand and support this valiant and worthy effort, diminishes.”
Last week, Russia held referendums to annex the Ukrainian territories, while the United States has deemed the annexation attempts illegal. On Friday, President Joe Biden called the attempts “phony” and described Russia’s claims as having “no legitimacy.”
