By Mike Littwin

Once again, democracy is under attack. And while I could be talking about Russia’s still-shocking, full-scale invasion of Ukraine and its fledgling democracy, I’m actually talking about the ugly rantings of Vladimir Putin’s poodle, Donald Trump.

In the wake of the Russian attack, as I’m sure you know, Trump celebrated Putin’s “genius,” his “savvy” and added a few other words of praise that the Former Guy usually reserves for himself. In his speech to the annual CPAC gathering of right-wing activists Saturday night, Trump briefly praised Ukraine for bravery in the face of “horrific” war. And then he amended his “genius” branding of Putin with this: “The problem is not that Putin is smart … The problem is our leaders are dumb. So dumb.”

Trump did call the war in Ukraine “an assault on humanity.” What he didn’t do, though, was blame Putin or demand that Putin pull back or say what he might have done to stop the war — only that it could never have happened if, you guessed it, the 2020 election hadn’t been rigged.

As I watched what was basically Trump’s 2024 campaign speech, I couldn’t help but wonder whether it’s Trump or Putin who clings more doggedly to his version of the Big Lie.

And while Trump’s words are, of course, protected speech, they’re also definitely offensive and could be rightly called a betrayal of, let’s count the ways, democratic principles, the legacy of Ronald Reagan, NATO, the ideal of national sovereignty, and possibly the very life of Trump’s perfect phone-call buddy, Volodymyr Zelensky, who has, to nearly everyone’s surprise, turned into a hero of this story.

In fact, Zelensky’s stand in Kyiv — and the level of fight from out manned Ukrainian soldiers and citizens — has pretty much forced Western allies to get tougher on Russia. It even forced Trump to praise Zelensky. 

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