The Russian Temptation of the Right – WSJ

I served in the Trump administration and fiercely defended the former president. During his tenure, no dictator dared come close to doing what Vladimir Putin is now doing in Ukraine. But the things some America-first conservatives are now saying about Mr. Putin alarm me.

I realized this after condemning the invasion of Russia in a group chat with Trump officials. One responded with a Z, the pro-Russian war symbol. One made the vulgar suggestion that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was corrupt. Others supported Ukraine and it was clear that our group split into two factions.