Senator Thom Tillis essentially called Representative Madison Cawthorn a Russian asset on Twitter yesterday. He quote-tweeted a thread about Cawthorn’s remarks being played on Russian state television with the comment, “If your comments are being replayed over and over by Russian state propaganda outlets…” Good on Thom Tillis. It’s about time Republicans started to police their own. Now, if they will just extend that criticism to the Trump crime family. 

I think we need to encourage Republicans to start holding their colleagues accountable. Their inability to call out Trump or make him take responsibility for his actions has led to behavior by a lot of bad actors like Marjorie Taylor Green, Dan Bishop, and Lauren Boebert. Cawthorn is not an exception. He’s part of a growing wing of the GOP that caters to White nationalism and is easily misled by propaganda outlets like Fox News and OAN. 

Make no mistake. The GOP is fully responsible for the growing influence of the Cawthorns of the world. Republicans refused to hold Donald Trump responsible for his misdeeds and their complacency led to January 6. Now, those same people support Russia and Putin over the Ukrainian people and oppose US support. 

For 25 years, Republicans ignored the growing dishonesty of Fox News as it became a full-blown propaganda channel. They made excuses for its racism and xenophobia because the fear and hate the network spread created and motivated a base of discontented Americans who believe their world is under attack. Now, they have a beast that could destroy the GOP establishment if it’s not stopped. 

Russia’s invasion gives once-patriotic Republicans a chance to reclaim their party and show a level of responsibility again. Nationalists like Madison Cawthorn, Marjorie Taylor Green, and Putin mouthpiece Tucker Carlson are on the wrong side of democracy-loving Americans who still make up a majority of the country. The GOP should use the opportunity to shut down its authoritarian wing. In doing so, they may also depress their base in 2022, but the risk of a midterm loss is still low and the potential reward is huge. 

Establishment Republicans understand that authoritarians like Vladimir Putin will not stop until they are stopped. If the west doesn’t push back on his invasion in Ukraine, he’ll be rolling into other neighboring states next. Similarly, if the GOP doesn’t say “No” to its authoritarian right-flank, Trump and his cadre of miscreants will take over the party and, then, attempt to take over the country. They have no respect for democracy or decency, only power.

I don’t agree with Thom Tillis on much. I believe he’s often been a shallow and opportunistic politician who showed remarkably little backbone in the early stages of the Trump administration. Still, he’s recently been pushing back on the authoritarian wing of party and seems to see the threat. We need to encourage more of his colleagues to stand up for democratic values and against the idiot wing of the GOP.