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At the annual meeting of the National Conservatives, everyone is talking about the war in Ukraine. They blame the current president for the escalation.
Ukraine is not on the official agenda of the National Conservatives’ three-day CPAC conference, the annual body-building show of celebrities from the Republican ultra-right fringe. “Awake not woke” – is the domestically oriented motto with a culture-combat twist.
Legend:
Like a Conservative Body-Building Show: Sentiment from the Florida National Conservative Conference.
Reuters
The star guest on Saturday evening is different. Donald Trump dedicates around 20 minutes of his hour-and-a-half speech to the tragedy. “Horrible, a scandal,” he calls the Russian invasion. “The catastrophe would never have happened if we hadn’t had a fake presidential election.” He describes the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan as the turning point at which Vladimir Putin decided to occupy Ukraine. The Russian ruler is smart – and respected him, Trump.
Admiration for Putin’s power politics
In the corridors of the conference hotels in Orlando, Florida, too, Biden bashing is mixed with admiration for Putin’s power politics. “He does what he wants and doesn’t hesitate. President Biden, on the other hand, doesn’t come out with a straight sentence, »says a voter who had traveled there.
Sebastian Gorka, the former adviser to President Trump, now a media star with a penchant for conspiracy theories, calls the war in Ukraine an unnecessary tragedy. “During Obama’s presidency, Putin annexed Crimea and during Joe Biden’s, Ukraine. Donald Trump, on the other hand, has ensured calm with his clear policy of strength. »
Who’s to blame?
Senator Ted Cruz, who sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, takes a walk around the crowd. He goes even further: “Biden is to blame for the invasion.” It was disastrous that he reversed the sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. That gave Putin time to complete it. The Texas senator argues that he could now risk damaging the pipeline in Ukraine during the war.
Legend:
“Biden is to blame for the invasion”: Senator Ted Cruz.
SRF / Isabelle Jacobi
Criticizing Biden instead of condemning Putin was the keynote at the CPAC conference. This breaks with the tradition that in the US political ranks close during a conflict with an external enemy. But the United States is not directly at war right now.
“For many Americans, Ukraine is a far-off country, somewhere on the map,” says journalist Tim Constantine, foreign affairs director at the conservative Washington Times newspaper. In fact, in polls conducted before the war broke out, only around 25 percent of Americans supported an active US role in the Ukraine conflict.
Legend:
The Native American Uncle Sam – the most important national symbol of the USA next to the Statue of Liberty – also takes part in the congress.
SRF / Jacobi
It is to be expected that public dismay will increase with the pictures of war victims. And in Congress, Republicans support the Biden administration’s actions.
But at the same time they use the opportunity to score politically very cheaply. That may be a styleless reflex, but yeah, it’s an election year.