Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2025 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Donald Trump
The Republican Party Persecuted US Leftists for tilting to Moscow but Makes Excuses for Putin-Loving Trump

The Republican Party Persecuted US Leftists for tilting to Moscow but Makes Excuses for Putin-Loving Trump

Juan Cole 02/26/2022

Tweet
Share
Reddit
Email

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s fawning admiration of Vladimir Putin is well known, but it has often been brushed off as a quirk. We should have known how dangerous Putin was when he praised Trump as “impressive.” Trump is impressive the way spoiled butter left out too long is, rancid and foul-smelling.

Now Trump is calling Putin “smart” and “savvy” and a “genius” for his brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Article continues after bonus IC video
MSNBC: “Trump On Putin Invasion Plan: ‘This Is Genius’

Putin since his invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014 has probably been correctly characterized as an adversary or rival of the United States. But now, with his invasion of Ukraine and with President Biden sending thousands of troops to Germany, Bulgaria and other countries near Ukraine, I don’t think it is a stretch to describe Putin as an enemy. Technically an enemy attacks US military forces, but nuclear powers cannot risk that sort of direct conflict, and can clearly come into a relationship of enmity without actual military violence.

Article III, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution says, “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.”

There have for years been at least credible allegations that Trump launders money for Russia. If that is true, and he goes on doing it at a time when President Biden is freezing Russian assets in the United States, that could be interpreted as giving aid and comfort to the enemy. It could, that is, become more than merely a financial crime.

But even if Putin’s Russia is not formally an enemy of the US, and even if Trump is not formally guilty of giving aid and comfort to the enemy, Trump is certainly in smelly territory, and Americans have in the past been prosecuted for suspected sympathies with Moscow. I think that was an affront to the constitution and don’t want to see that sort of tool used even against Trump and his fascists.

But I am underlining the hypocrisy of the Republican Party, which led the charge against the Seattle Seven on largely inaccurate grounds but now is making excuses for Trump for doing and saying things that are much worse. Trump, unlike the small US Communist Party of the 1940s and 1950s, really has tried to overthrow the government of the United States and really is sycophantic toward Moscow.

Filed Under: Donald Trump, Featured, Republican Party, Russia, Ukraine, US Foreign Policy

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Iran's Hypersonic Missiles Hit Israeli Refinery, Military Sites, as Israel does the same to Tehran
  • Iraqi Shiites Demand Expulsion of US Troops after Israel Attacks Iran
  • Why did Israel defy Trump – and risk a major War – by striking Iran now? And what happens next?
  • A Pariah State? Western Nations Sanction Israeli Cabinet Members
  • Israel's Netanyahu banks on TACO Trump as he Launches War on Iran to disrupt Negotiations

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2025 All Rights Reserved