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Praise for Russia has been a common occurrence among some prominent figures on the right, including former President Donald Trump, who has often spoken positively about Putin. Others have parroted Russian talking points, while others have celebrated some elements of Russian society.
In February, after giving the Russian leader a platform to spread misinformation about the war in Ukraine, former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, went on to praise aspects of Russian society, calling it “shocking” and “disturbing” how much “nicer” Moscow was than any city in the US. He said his position was still pro-America, though.
Others influential in the online space have also shown varying degrees of admiration for Russian society as Putin tries to present Russia as a place where, as Russian state media said, “traditional values reign supreme” and condemn Western ideals.
Rhetoric of this nature has shown up in the Russian leader’s speeches. In 2022, Putin criticized the West as “satanic,” arguing that it had rejected “moral norms” and “traditional” values. And in his Victory Day speech in 2023, he attacked “Western globalist elites” for what he said was the destruction of “family and traditional values that make a person human.”
Russia’s new visa policies focused on turning the country into some kind of “safe haven” appear rooted in this kind of thinking.