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A souvenir shopkeeper displays Matryoshka dolls featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin and former US presidents, including Donald Trump in Moscow. In recent years the one-time party of Reagan and current party of Trump has shown an increasing admiration of Russia and Vladimir Putin.
Misha Friedman/Getty Images
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Misha Friedman/Getty Images
A souvenir shopkeeper displays Matryoshka dolls featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin and former US presidents, including Donald Trump in Moscow. In recent years the one-time party of Reagan and current party of Trump has shown an increasing admiration of Russia and Vladimir Putin.
Misha Friedman/Getty Images
For half a century, during the Cold War, every U-S president painted Russia as the dominant threat. America’s ideological opposite, a hostile and nuclear-armed power. Ronald Reagan went so far as to call the Soviet Union an Evil Empire.
So the events of recent days have been noteworthy. On top of a holdup of U-S aid for Ukraine, former President Trump said he might NOT come to the defense of a NATO ally who hadn’t spent enough on defense.
And Tucker Carlson, the erstwhile Fox news host, flew to Moscow to sit down with Vladimir Putin for more than two hours of mostly softball questions.
Afterward, he pronounced Putin “impressive” on stage at the World Government Summit.
So what gives? Why the romance between the American right and Russia?
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This episode was produced by Karen Zamora, Connor Donevan and Marc Rivers. It was edited by Sarah Handel and Courtney Dorning.
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.