As the war in Ukraine rages on, former President Trump has been sharing his opinions pretty
freely.
So what do Americans think about the European conflict and how things might've gone if a
different president were in charge in the United States?
The day before Russia invaded Ukraine, a YouTube video appeared online, in which Trump referred
to Putin as a "genius," before offering more praise.
"Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent.
I said, 'How smart is that?'
Here's a guy who's very savvy."
Since then, Trump has gone on to publicly and repeatedly add that he thinks one thing
would've stopped the invasion from ever happening: if he was still president:
"As everyone understands this horrific disaster would never have happened if our election
was not rigged and if I was the president."
Of course, all of this overlooks the fact that former President Trump has had his own
dealings with Ukraine.
During his first impeachment, Politico explains Trump had been charged with holding millions
of dollars in security aid from Ukraine in an attempt to blackmail Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating Trump's political rivals, including Joe Biden.
Former President Trump's supporters have been listening, too.
The New York Times reports that "pro-Russian sentiment" has flooded social media, including
YouTube, Telegram, and podcasts.
Instead of denouncing Putin's actions, there has been sympathy and approval for Russia's
invasion.
Online conspiracy theories have been at the heart of the American pro-Putin discourse,
including many believing NATO is violating territorial agreements with Russia that don't
actually exist, per The New York Times.
Another popular, false conspiracy theory is that Putin and Trump are even working together
on the invasion, with the goal of "taking down a cabal of global elites over sex trafficking."
But like so much of the political landscape in America these days, the 2016 presidential
election is what seems to have made a segment of Americans seemingly more trusting of Vladimir
Putin and Russian motives.
As The New York Times explains, Trump has appeared "favorable" and "admiring" of Russian
President Vladimir Putin, which has, quote, "seeded a more favorable view among Mr. Trump's
supporters," according to misinformation researchers.
They also believe Putin, who is seen as being "invested heavily in sowing discord" had found
the perfect ally in Mr. Trump.
Melissa Ryan, the chief executive of Card Strategies, a consulting firm that researches
disinformation believes, quote, "anyone who studies disinformation or the far right has
seen the influence of Putin's investment take hold."
At the CPAC conference, Trump did shift his tone some when he spoke about Russia's invasion
of Ukraine, calling the invasion, quote, "appalling."
"It's an outrage, and an atrocity that should never have been allowed to occur."
Of course, Trump also stuck to the argument that Russia would have never invaded if he
had been president.
The thing is, some polls seem to show that a large segments of Americans agree.
In a poll conducted by the Harvard Center for American Political Studies, or Harvard-CAPS,
62% of 2,026 polled Americans believe Putin wouldn't have invaded Ukraine if Trump were
still president.
As it happens, the crisis in Ukraine is one of the first major wars to be broadcast on
social media in real-time by on-the-ground civilians.
As a result, people around the globe are seeing raw, unedited images and videos uploaded by
Ukrainians fleeing their homes, hiding in underground subway stations, and desperately
trying to access food, gas, and necessities.
It's unlike anything the American public has witnessed before — so says former US Army
journalist and photographer Daniel Johnson, who explained the new scenario in an article
on Slate:
"The scale and impact of what's occurring and what we're seeing can't be understated.
We're watching a massive conflict — the scale of which hasn't been seen on the continent
in almost 100 years — rock the second-largest country in Europe.
From our offices, our porches, our cars, and our schools, we can watch battles as they
happen."
As a result, Americans are navigating the deluge of both media and civilian coverage
of the war, at a time when, according to The Hill, Biden's approval ratings have waned.
The combination of those two factors may explain the aforementioned results of the Harvard-CAPS
poll.
Whether or not the results of the poll will have any kind of reflection on American voters
is a question we may not have answered for a while yet.
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