Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) believes that positive comments by some Republicans about Russian President Vladimir Putin are bordering on treason.
During an appearance on CNNās āState of the Unionā Sunday, Romney was asked the āpro-Putin sentimentā among āsome cornersā of the Republican Party.
āA lot of those people are changing their stripes as theyāre seeing the response of the world, and the political response here in the U.S.,ā Romney responded.
He continued, āBut how anybody, how anybody in this country which loves freedom can side with Vladimir Putin is an oppressor, a dictator, he kills people, he imprisons his political opponents, he has been an adversary of America at every chance heās had, itās unthinkable for me. Itās almost treasonous. And it just makes me ill to see some of these people do that.ā
āBut of course, they do it because they think itās shock value, and itās going to get them more eyeballs and maybe make a little more money for them or their network. Itās disgusting. And Iām hopeful that youāre seeing some of those people recognize just how wrong they were,ā he added.
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When asked if former President Donald Trumpās claim that Putinās invasion of Ukraine is āsmartā would fall into the āalmost treasonousā category, Romney did not directly answer.
However, he said, āStanding up for freedom is the right thing to do in America, and anything less than that, in my opinion, is unworthy of American support.ā
Romneyās comments come after Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) spoke at a white nationalist conference. Nick Fuentes, the organizer of the event, has expressed pro-Putin views and has been labeled a white supremacist by the Department of Justice.
Greene later denounced Putinās invasion of Ukraine and said she did not know about Fuentesā views.
