Republican weakness emboldened Putin

The letter “Biden’s failings led to Putin’s invasion,” March 10, suggests Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine because of President Joe Biden’s “weakness and ineptitude.” I suggest that, to the contrary, it was due to former President Donald Trump’s weakness and ineptitude and due to the actions of Republicans and their media supporters.

The Republican Party carries the blame for demonstrating to the world that they do not consider Biden to be the legitimate president by disputing the election. That includes actions by Rep. Elise Stefanik and Republican candidate for governor, Rep. Lee Zeldin. Imagine the Republican Party nominating a gubernatorial candidate who challenged the legitimacy of the president of the United States. Further, it was the Republicans under the leadership of Trump who brought about the insurrection and attack on our Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. All of these events demonstrated to the world that the United States is a nation divided.

Adding to that was the language of many Republicans and Fox News hosts who disparaged the value of Ukraine as a country and elevated Putin. While they are now distancing themselves from their craven actions and statements, history will remember who stood where and what led to this tragedy.

Attempts to now shift the blame to Biden are laughable. Imagine the fix we’d be in if Trump were president after he’d so alienated our allies. One of Trump’s suggested solutions? He suggested we should disguise our planes as Chinese and attack the Russians. Nice idea, if he were Wile E. Coyote and we were in a cartoon. Not such a good idea if it could lead to World War III.

Kevin Donovan

Delmar