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US Politics
Opinion
Robert Delaney
Robert Delaney

On Balance | How Putin’s Ukraine invasion is driving a wedge between Trump and the Republicans

  • As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine bogs down, one of the Russian president’s most ardent supporters is also showing signs of weakness
  • Recent developments in Congress and on the campaign trail suggest a waning appetite among Republicans to keep standing with Donald Trump

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Former US president Donald Trump (right) welcomes congressional candidate Mo Brooks to the stage during a rally at York Family Farms in Cullman, Alabama, on August 21, 2021. Photo: TNS
Robert Delaney
As the world watched Ukraine begin to hold back Vladimir Putin’s onslaught over the past week, the Russian president’s prospects appeared to dim on another front.
An American Republican Party that had been so firmly in the thrall of Donald Trump – whose admiration for Putin seemingly knows no bounds – is showing more willingness to accept that the former US leader, who saw himself as emperor, is wearing no clothes.

Representative Mo Brooks is seeking the Republican nomination for the US Senate in Alabama and has struggled against his primary opponents. Brooks had the temerity to suggest his party move past the groundless allegation that US President Joe Biden won the 2020 election fraudulently.

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Trump quickly rescinded his endorsement of Brooks, who had supported the former president’s lies about the election on January 6, 2021, and in the weeks leading up to it. Wearing body armour and exhorting Trump’s supporters to fight against the certification of Biden’s win, Brooks said on that day: “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.”

Brooks’ move delivered more ammunition to the House of Representatives select committee investigating the January 6 attack. It seems to suggest further momentum for those within the party and all other sane policymakers to end Trump’s status as the Republican leader.

02:53

Putin tightens grip at home, issues chilling warning to rid Russia of ‘traitors’

Putin tightens grip at home, issues chilling warning to rid Russia of ‘traitors’
The repudiation of Trump’s brand within the party is occurring on other fronts. In a Senate commerce committee hearing last week about legislation designed to boost America’s tech competitiveness, the only committee member to suggest Washington join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was Roger Wicker, a Republican from the deep red state of Mississippi.
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