Congresswoman says ‘our neighbors to the north need to be liberated’, prompting widespread condemnation
Lauren Boebert said: ‘We have neighbors to the north who need freedom and you need to be liberated and we need that right here at home.’ Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
The Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert was condemned for comparing the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the clearing of a truckers’ protest in Ottawa, saying: “We also have neighbors to the north who need freedom and who need to be liberated.”
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A former US ambassador to Canada called the comments “reckless” and “dangerous”.
A protest in imitation of the Canadian truckers has been making its away across the US. It is expected in Washington this week.
Anthony Housefather, a Liberal member of the Canadian parliament, told Boebert that “while it’s good that you are not following the Trump line and are standing with Ukraine instead of Putin, it is sad to hear you compare free and democratic Canada to the invasion of Ukraine.
“If you would like to learn about Canada please reach out.”
That seems unlikely. Boebert, from Colorado, is a far-right controversialist and conspiracy theorist who since being elected in 2018 has consistently sought attention through confrontation.
She was discussing the Ukraine invasion at CPAC, the conservative event in Florida, in an interview with Fox Nation hosts Pete Hegseth and Kayleigh McEnany, the latter a former White House press secretary under Donald Trump.
Trump has condemned the invasion but repeatedly praised Putin.
Boebert said: “I pray for Ukraine and I wish them the best.”
She also praised the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose response to an evacuation offer was widely reported.
“They have a great president right now who really said, clearly, ‘Live free or die’,” Boebert said, reaching for the New Hampshire state motto before paraphrasing Zelenskiy, saying: “I don’t need a ride, give me ammunition. The fight is right here.”
She continued, saying: “But we also have neighbors to the north who need freedom and you need to be liberated and we need that right here at home.”
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It was a reference to the “Freedom Convoy”, a truckers’ protest which choked downtown Ottawa this month. The protest began against vaccine mandates but morphed into a protest against the government of Justin Trudeau.
The prime minister used emergency powers to aid the effort to end the protest, which saw police and protesters clash in the snowy streets of the Canadian capital.
Many in Canada and the US reacted to Boebert’s comments with anger.
Bruce Heyman, who was US ambassador to Canada under Barack Obama, said the congresswoman’s remarks were “reckless, dangerous and [crossed] every line of diplomacy and decency. Boebert would have been expelled from the Republican party before Trump but [is] now the darling of CPAC.
“Canada is our best friend, best trading partner, closest ally and should be treated as such.”
Reckless, dangerous and crosses every line of diplomacy and decency. Boebert would have been expelled from the @GOP before Trump but now the darling of CPAC. Canada is our best friend-best trading partner- closest ally and should be treated as such. https://t.co/W4VJhE1ENO
As Ukrainians fight for their lives during the Russian invasion, the extremist lawmaker used their plight to nonsensically push her ideology. https://t.co/nGQCNtMoF9
Paul Gosar also spoke at far-right conference, as calls for the censure of the two Republicans ring out again
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, members of Congress who spoke at a white nationalist event in Florida this week, are “morons” with no place in the Republican party, Mitt Romney said on Sunday.
Calls to expel Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene after speech at white nationalist event
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“I’m reminded of that old line from the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid movie,” the Utah senator and 2012 presidential nominee told CNN’s State of the Union.
“One character says, ‘Morons. I’ve got morons on my team.’ I have to think anybody that would sit down with white nationalists and speak at their conference was certainly missing a few IQ points.”
Greene, from Georgia, and Gosar, from Arizona, spoke at the America First Political Action Conference, or AFPAC, organised by the far-right activist Nick Fuentes. Greene defended her attendance, saying she did not know Fuentes or endorse his views.
Calls for the censure of the two Republicans, familiar from previous instances of extreme behaviour, rang out again on Saturday.
Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, said: “In any other world, Greene speaking at a white supremacist conference where attendees have defended Vladimir Putin and praised Adolf Hitler would warrant expulsion from the caucus, to say nothing of her advocacy for violence and consistent antisemitism is disgusting.
“Quite simply, the longer [House Republican leader] Kevin McCarthy gives Marjorie Taylor Greene an unfettered platform and promises to elevate her, the more complicit he is.”
The Republican party chair, Ronna McDaniel, said: “White supremacy, neo-Nazism, hate speech and bigotry are disgusting and do not have a home in the Republican party.”
But McDaniel and McCarthy lead a party in which the far right is strong, former president Donald Trump its figurehead.
McDaniel is Romney’s niece, though she reportedly stopped using his name at Trump’s request. On CNN, Romney mentioned McDaniel’s statement about Greene and Gosar as well as strong words from Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican congresswoman and Trump critic.
“Talking about how repugnant these white nationalists are,” Romney said, “look, there’s no place in either political party for this white nationalism or racism. it’s simply wrong.
“Speaking of evil, it’s evil as well. And, you know, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, I don’t know them.”
Cheney is a stringent conservative but remains at odds with her party. She was not invited to CPAC, the larger conservative event in Florida at which Trump and Greene appeared.
In video posted online, Vaughn Hillyard, a reporter for NBC, asked CPAC organizer Matt Schlapp why Greene had been invited despite her long record of extremist behavior and her participation in the white nationalist event.
The strange Republican world where the big lie lives on and Trump is fighting to save democracy
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“I think it’s great that Marjorie Taylor Greene was on this stage because she was elected by her constituents to have a vote in Congress,” Schlapp said.
“[House speaker] Nancy Pelosi decided to strip her of her rights as a congressperson to serve on these committees and Twitter has decided to shut her down.”
Hillyard said: “But you’re inviting legitimacy to that white nationalist movement that was just down the road when a member of Congress from the Republican party appears at that event and you bring her here.”
Schlapp said: “I’m providing legitimacy to you and your network by being allowed to be in this room. It’s called the first amendment and you are a member of the press and you have a right to be in this room. If I had said you couldn’t come into this room, how would that make America better?”
Hillyard asked: “Did you extend an invite to Liz Cheney?”
Schlapp said: “No.”
Romney: "Marjorie Taylor Greene & Gosar, I don't know them. But I'm reminded of the old line from Butch Cassidy where one character says, 'Morons, I have morons on my team.' I think anybody who would sit down w/ white nationalists at their conference is missing a few IQ points." pic.twitter.com/sCEM2rSaxl
This is an audio only post. It does have CC and I watched it with the CC on for a while and it tracks well. The host is former Senator Al Franken. The subject is on how the right when batshit and got everything they wanted. It is how the Republican party became the tRump party. It is an important subject.
BREAKING: Amazon told union organizers at JFK8 today that they were calling the police after they delivered a pasta & grilled chicken lunch to break room.
Here is the video of NYPD showing up and arresting 3 union organizers, 2 are current employees.https://t.co/v07oFCZFKo
As I told Congress last week, Medicare for All is inevitable because current healthcare trends are unsustainable. The only real question is how much unnecessary pain, suffering, and cost Americans will have to endure before we get there. https://t.co/M1dPuZCBBL
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
Imagine a supremely qualified SCOTUS nominee with two Harvard degrees with honors, a SCOTUS clerkship for the justice they'd replace, and two years as a federal judge.
(That's Chief Justice John Roberts.)
Ketanji Brown Jackson has all of that, plus seven more years as a judge.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. This is what a leader looks like. This is what courage looks like. He didn’t fake bone spurs or flee to Poland to leave his people to die. 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/2Lhk6ZBGRo
Anyone who questions why Ukraine decided to become a sovereign nation and why they don’t want to go back to being under the thumb of Russia should read this thread. @cspanwj#IStandWithUkrainehttps://t.co/nQPUd7iUhL
Kyiv now. Continuous rocket shelling. And three convoys of tanks – almost 500 in total – approaching the city from different directions. It will be hellish tonight. pic.twitter.com/pgkjvSnVT1
Russian military is bombing hospitals in Ukraine, health minister Viktor Liashko said. "This is a violation of Geneva convention, a shameful and cowardly act. Such actions by the occupiers put civilian lives in danger and contradict principles of international humanitarian law'
Thinking back on Tucker Carlson's "Has Putin ever called me a racist?" comment-it's wild how so much of the conservative culture war is just driven by being afraid of getting called bigoted.
Franklin Graham is the son of Billy Graham. Both are/were idiot charlatans.
Five Texas district attorneys pushed back on Gov. Greg Abbott's directive in which he called gender-transitioning and affirming procedures as "child abuse." https://t.co/PXLfcmaBcl
The governor of Texas wants parents who support their trans kids to be prosecuted for "child abuse."
Thru March 31st, 🌟RT and comment🌟 with proof of donation 👉🏽directly benefitting trans minors in Texas👈🏽 to download any one of our celebrated comics collections ⚡️for free.⚡️ pic.twitter.com/IfvGzuxMPR
Attorney general Paxton's opinion and Governor Abbott's letter have no legal effect, can't change Texas law, and can't override the constitutional rights of Texas families.
No court anywhere in the country has ever found that gender-affirming care can be considered child abuse. https://t.co/D8F7rfELdV
Getting a little worrisome how much the right wing is embracing "the West was weakened by our failure to oppress trans people" as a narrative right now pic.twitter.com/Q0HlozOalo
It is 100% repackaged homophobia by the way. When gay marriage was the big culture war issue the reactionary talking point was all about how men and women procreate and same sex couples don't so homosexuality isn't "scientifically justified".
Right wing media is split with some praising Putin and others are mocking the invasion to slam Biden. None of them seem to care about the people of Ukraine.
SKelley thinks Biden is responsible for the global rise in gas prices.
Notice that the US isn’t even near the middle of the list.
Also, another cheap shot at the polls, when he hasn’t even gotten close to the Last Occupant yet.
Rising petroleum prices are simply an inevitable consequence of dependence on a finite commodity. Every bit of oil taken out of the ground is that much less oil left in the ground. Duh.
Hopefully it becomes inevitable that nowadays any country invading another one, even if it’s next door, it turns into a quagmire that the invader loses. Problem with “explosions in Moscow” is that those would be followed by “explosions in New York and Washington D.C. “. Anybody really want that?
Gab CEO Andrew Torba, slated to speak at AFPAC alongside Fuentes- "Putin is brilliant"; "I hope the Globalist American Empire gets humiliated from all angles"; "Ukraine needs to be liberated & cleansed from the degeneracy of the secular western globalist empire" pic.twitter.com/18HJa8kRH9
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), chairman of the Senate Republican campaign arm, dodged questioning on Saturday regarding whether former President Trump should condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a brief interview with CBS News’s Robert Costa at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Scott was asked if Trump, who is scheduled to speak later Saturday, should condemn Putin.
“Well, clearly, we all ought to be condemning what’s going on in Ukraine. I mean, Putin is a thug. We need to hold him accountable. I hope the Biden administration, hope everybody, you know, holds — does everything they can to hold the Biden administration —” Scott said before Costa interjected to ask if that included Trump.
Scott said that was a decision Trump needed to make.
“Putin is a thug. It’s despicable. My heart goes out to the people of Ukraine. I’m gonna do everything I can to help the Ukraine citizens. We need to make sure we provide all the resources we can,” Scott continued.
“So it’s up to him whether he condemns Putin or not?” Costa asked Scott.
“Of course, it’s always up to him,” the Florida senator answered.
Costa pressed the Florida Republican again, asking if wanted to hear the former president issue a “strong message” against the Russian invasion.
“Well, I talked to President Trump. I talked to Republicans all over the country. We’re all focused on making sure we get the Senate back,” Scott answered.
Trump has faced criticism for remarks he made earlier this week on the “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” in which he said that Putin’s recognition of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine was “pretty savvy” and “smart.”
“I went in yesterday, and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius,'” Trump said during the interview. “Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.”
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a frequent critic of Trump and one of a group of House Republicans who voted to impeach him last year, said his praise for Putin “aids our enemies.”
“Former President Trump’s adulation of Putin today — including calling him a ‘genius’ — aids our enemies,” the Wyoming Republican tweeted. “Trump’s interests don’t seem to align with the interests of the United States of America.”
“He is certainly not someone to be praised, and I think what we ought to be encouraged by is the reaction across the free world. Really what Putin wants more than anything is disunity, because disunity will lead to an ineffective response,” McMaster said during an interview on CNN.
The Hill has reached out to Scott’s office for further comment.
Should Trump condemn the Russian invasion when he speaks at CPAC tonight? Even out of power, he remains a central figure in many GOP races nationwide.
@CBSNews asked Sen. Rick Scott, head of Sen Rs’ campaign arm.
Just Saying: Very few American journalists are connecting the dots between Paul Manafort's work in Ukraine, the Trump campaign's change to the GOP platform in 2015, Trump's withholding of support and attempted blackmail of Zelensky, and this invasion.
SKelley thinks Biden is responsible for the global rise in gas prices.
https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/
Notice that the US isn’t even near the middle of the list.
Also, another cheap shot at the polls, when he hasn’t even gotten close to the Last Occupant yet.