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Matt Gaetz used Chinese propaganda to support a Russian talking point against Ukraine [1]
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Date: 2023-03-01
It would seem as if someone would have to be pretty poorly informed to bring an article from one of these “state propaganda outlets disguised as news agencies” into a hearing and use it in an attempt to bludgeon a Defense Department official. But, again: Matt Gaetz.
As The Washington Post reports, “Some media scholars have likened the Global Times to China’s Fox News.” That may have been enough to make Gaetz feel right at home with the outlet. But even setting aside that he was holding an article from what has been described as China’s “24/7 propaganda machine,” there’s another issue here: What was Gaetz trying to ask?
What Gaetz was pushing involved a report that the Azov battalion in Ukraine was a recipient of U.S. weapons. Why does Gaetz care about this?
The Azov battalion got its start as a start as an alt-right paramilitary unit—the kind of thing that in the U.S. might be called a “militia.” And just like militias in the U.S., from the Michigan Militia to the Oath Keepers to the Proud Boys, the group attracted members that were fond of guns, God, and Hitler. Racist and antisemitic attitudes weren’t universal, but they were certainly tolerated, even in some of the symbols used by that militia.
But that was a long time ago, before Azov was rolled into the national guard. Before many of the original members drifted away to other groups. Before the battalion became local heroes for their defense of Mariupol in both 2014 and 2022.
As the Center for Civil Liberties states: “The short answer to the question is no, Azov is not a neo-Nazi regiment.” It’s no longer a militia. It contains people of many different ethnic origins. It’s another unit in the Ukrainian military, one that is the subject of a lot of local pride, but still carries around baggage from its founding.
So why does Gaetz care if the people who defended Mariupol to the bitter end, then spent months in Russian prison camps being starved to the point where one of the leaders died from the aftereffects of malnutrition, received any U.S. weapons?
Because it’s a Russian talking point. That’s why.
The idea that Azov is a “neo-Nazi militia” is at the center of Vladimir Putin’s claims to have invaded Ukraine for “denazification.” So much so that “Azov battalion” is treated as if it’s a synonym for “neo-Nazi,” no questions asked.
What audience is Gaetz playing to with this statement? it’s certainly not Jewish Americans, who support President Biden’s handling of the Ukraine war with a 72% approval rating.
Gaetz tried to lay this trap about Azov not out of real concern over the unit’s beliefs, but entirely because just asking the question supports Putin’s efforts to create a fracture in America’s solid support for Ukraine. Gaetz’s aim here is to please Putin, even if that means generating harm that costs lives. And to do it, he was willing to read quotes from a Chinese propaganda outlet.
It’s certainly an achievement. Hopefully one that will never be matched.
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/1/2155673/-Matt-Gaetz-used-Chinese-propaganda-to-support-a-Russian-talking-point-against-Ukraine
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