The Republican representative who chairs the House Intelligence Committee said it’s “absolutely true” that Russian propaganda has influenced some of the GOP’s own members of Congress.
Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning, Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) affirmed a fellow Republican colleague’s statement that pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine messaging had penetrated the party base in Congress. That colleague, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Mike McCaul (R-TX), criticized conservative news outlets when he said, “Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.”
Turner agreed. “Oh, it’s absolutely true,” the Ohio Republican told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor.”
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“I mean, there are members of Congress today who still incorrectly say that this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is over NATO, which of course it is not. Vladimir Putin having made it very clear, both publicly and to his own population, that his view is that this is a conflict of a much broader claim of Russia, to Eastern Europe, and including claiming all of Ukraine territory as Russia’s,” he added.
The effectiveness of the propaganda, Turner said, made it much harder to pass Ukraine aid and understand the conflict as necessary in the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism. House Republicans have opposed aid for months and have frequently blocked or stalled its passage through the House, and some GOP politicians have long held concerns about Russia’s influence on the party.
Turner ended his Sunday remarks on Ukraine by calling on Republicans to step up in the Eastern European country’s hour of need.
“We need to stand up for democracy,” he said. “Ukraine needs our help and assistance now and this is a very critical time for the U.S. Congress to step up and provide that aid.”
