Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) accused some of his Republican colleagues of spreading Russian propaganda and wanting to see Russia “win” in their invasion of Ukraine.
Bacon appeared on C-SPAN on Thursday as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is trying to rally support for foreign aid bills that would provide assistance to Ukraine and Israel. Johnson has faced far more pushback from his conference over Ukraine funding. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) already filed a motion to vacate that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said he will support.
Bacon criticized efforts to remove Johnson, praising him as a person of integrity who is trying to do what's right regardless of agreement.
The Republican congressman portrayed Ukraine’s situation as urgent, stating that they require munitions support to stave off Russia.
“They have no more artillery. If we don’t do this, the Russians will be in Kiev. Unfortunately, a few of my colleagues would like to see the Russians win. I don’t know why that is the case. I think it’s a terrible thing,” Bacon said.
Bacon did not specify which of his colleagues he believes want to see Russia win, but he did back a claim by Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) that Russian propaganda has been spread on the House floor. Bacon cited claims about Ukrainian Nazis and Russian fighting for Christianity as examples of this propaganda he’s seen from colleagues.
He called on Republican leadership to better police “fringe” voices that have been allowed to “dominate” the conversation on Ukraine.
“What we did was allow a couple voices dominate these some of these talk show folks, whether it’s on cable TV or whether it’s on a podcast, we’ve allowed a few fringe people to dominate,” he said.
Watch above via C-SPAN.
