Fact Checking Claims About GOP Senators Being ‘Loyal’ To Putin

A viral post features a graphic from a 2019 episode of Rachel Maddow’s show and is presented without context.

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A viral tweet claims to show a Russian TV show noting eight American politicians as being particularly “loyal” to Vladimir Putin.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ed P

    They were singled out for “thanks” and giving “Putin’s government in Russia a huge economic break” according to the Snopes transcript.

    Perhaps instead of splitting hairs to defend Republicans bad behavior, you might focus on a fact check that actually stinking matters.

    “Schumer and the Democrats and the breakaway Republicans were able to put together 57 votes, but 57 isn’t 60, and so you can thank top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell. You can thank all of these other Republican senators who get all of this public credit for supposedly being so hawkish and so realistic on Russia. You can thank them all for voting today to give Vladimir Putin’s government in Russia a huge big economic present and voting to give Oleg Deripaska the biggest break of his life, even while his potential role in the Russian attack on our election remains a critical matter that is under ongoing investigation related to multiple criminal cases.“

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  2. Tom (Inadvertent Obfuscation)

    Thank you, Alec Dent.

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    MatthewRobin

    Kyiv, The Donbas, and F-35s

    If you want to find out more, check out my Week 5 Recap of the Russia/Ukraine war.

    https://infraredline.substack.com/p/warzone-ukraine-week-5-recap

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    DougAz

    It's a fake with Mitt Romney in that group. As to some others..... my opinion is generally known.

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    Marc Frischhertz

    What was the point of this piece? Really?

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      BWG

      It's a fact check, nothing more, nothing less, something they generally do well at TD. The post was demonstrated false on several levels. If you want more info and/or commentary about that particular senate vote you'll need to do some digging of your own - it's not the goal of this fact check.

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        Ed P

        I think this fact check and many others are colored with partisan leanings.

        What is the fact being checked here? The sub heading seems to suggest Rachel Maddow’s story was inaccurate. Thats not the case.

        Did the fact checker here actually document that these Senators were not showing loyalty to Putin? I do not think so. It merely pointed out that the Russian TV translation did not use those particular words, although if you click thru and read it, pretty much paraphrased.

        The overall context of the meme rings true to me for all these minus Mr Romney. But I guess it all hinges on your definition of loyalty.

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    Pat Riot

    Yes, "most loyal to Putin" is an exaggeration, but "very helpful to Putin" would not be.

    This shows why the Republican party has a "Russia problem" and why Republicans will probably try to whitewash the Ukrainian atrocities as soon as the news cycle on the war dies down, just like they did for 1/6.

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      Kev_WDE

      Legitimate political war crimes.

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      Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

      I'm still angry at the Republicans who lifted restrictions on the Nord2 Pipeline, that was clearly an assist to Putin. Plus it encourages the use of fossil fuels!

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        Pat Riot

        And as far as you know, that's all that happened during Trump's presidency, right?

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          Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

          I wasn't in the WH for any president, Biden, trump, or Obama, so who knows what all evils they committed?

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            Pat Riot

            Right. Trump was "perfect" on Russia, like his "perfect" call to Zelenskyy.

            So you are telling me that all you know about is that one thing Trump did with respect to Russia, and it was fine, Trump was fine on Russia (or just like all of the other presidents). I guess all of hubbub that national security experts make over this subject must be very confusing to you then.

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      Kryptonquaker

      "The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War's been over for 20 years"

      -Obama 2012

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        Pat Riot

        ???

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          Kryptonquaker

          Just implying that it’s weird to suggest only one party has been “very helpful to Putin” in the recent past. Taking a look at Obama’s time in office, related to Russia, should dispel this notion.

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            Ed P

            It is true tho that one party has played footsie with the Kremlin and we should not mince words about it.

            The Democrats may have been caught a bit flat footed a decade ago, but since the 2016 Russian attack on US sovereignty, it has been a very different story. Unfortunately, far too many have paid too little attention and instead followed the GOP as Trump aligned them with that Kremlin attack. It has been horrendously bad for our nation and a huge part of why Putin thought he could get away with this atrocity

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            Pat Riot

            How? Did Obama illegally withhold weapons from Ukraine in exchange for a sham investigation of his political rival? Did Obama denigrate NATO his entire time in office? Did Obama try to deny the most dangerous attack on our democracy since the War of 1812 didn't happen emboldening Putin to do it again and again? Did Obama suggest we merge our cybersecurity efforts with Russia?

            Did Obama's former National Security Advisor say the equivalent to what Trump's recently did: that if Trump were still president, Putin would be in Kiev [four weeks ago]?

            Did Obama keep the biggest business deal of his career secret--a deal for an office building in Moscow?

            Did Obama keep all of the readouts of his meetings with Putin a secret, with nobody in the room except the translator? Did he consistently allow only the Kremlin to produce readouts on these meetings, sometimes meaning that we only even knew about the meetings because the *Kremlin* told us?

            Republicans trying to have it both ways in Russia would be hilarious if it wasn't so incredibly dangerous to our country.

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    4. Bill_Woods

      Anyone claiming that *Mitt Romney* is pro-Putin, well you can stop reading there.

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        Kev_WDE

        But the Republican Party DOES have a Russia problem.

        And Fox News goes unedited straight to Russian State TV, so….

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        Pat Riot

        Mitt Romney is not a meaningful part of the Republican party.

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About Alec Dent

Alec Dent is the culture editor and a staff writer for The Dispatch. He is a graduate of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC Chapel Hill, and previously oversaw The Dispatch's fact checking team.
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