(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Hardcore leftist members of the so-called Squad have been caught between a rock and a hard place: the rock being the optically unpopular Russian invasion of Ukraine, the hard place being their personal and political interests.
While all have denounced the invasion itself, PJ Media reported that the four squad members have each made different moves that could be in Russia’s interest.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., “has family with business interests in Russia and its oil industry,” including her father and brother-in-law.
So, despite her public condemnation of Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine, she voted against the Russian oil sanctions.
“I don’t support any broad-based sanctions on any country,” she said.
“They are economic warfare and we should all oppose them like we oppose military actions. Also, as humans who are interconnected to other humans globally, we will directly or indirectly be impacted by it.”
Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., also voted against the sanctions.
Omar is not the only squad rep against the sanctions—Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., has argued that sanctions would “hurt the Ukrainian people.”
The New York Post has made the point that this stance “echoed Russia’s own propaganda network.”
And, while they have not made any public statements saying they agree with Putin on several counts, Putin’s own record would suggest that he and the Squad are on similar pages.
In October, 2020, Putin commended the Democrats for being “traditionally closer to the so-called liberal values, closer to Social Democratic ideas, if compared to Europe.”
“I still like many of these left wing values,” Putin stated. “Equality and fraternity. What is bad about them? In fact, they are akin to Christian values. Yes, they are difficult to implement, but they are very attractive nevertheless.”
Finally, each of the squad members are “closely aligned to the Democratic Socialists of America, which has stood steadfastly with Russia during the conflict and blamed the war on US Imperialism.”
“None have moved to distance themselves from the organization’s stance.”
