Financial TimesFinancial Times

Putin holds a trump card in the 2024 US election

By Edward Luce

15 Mar 2023 · 3 min read

Editor's Note

Vladimir Putin's route to success in Ukraine lies in U.S. politics, writes the FT's Edward Luce. Why? Because a Trump or DeSantis presidency would offer Russia the best chance of disuniting the West.

This year’s oddest moment was when Vladimir Putin attacked the Church of England. Its sin was to consider the idea of a gender neutral God. In the midst of what he sees as an existential war, Putin has time to worry about same-sex marriages in America, Shakespeare and JK Rowling being cancelled on each side of the Atlantic, and gender reassignment surgery.

You might think that Putin was auditioning to replace Tucker Carlson, Fox News’ leading anchor. Then again, Carlson’s rhetoric is often indistinguishable from the Russian president’s. Carlson has described Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “despot”, Joe Biden’s “Ukrainian pimp” and a “corrupt strongman”. Tell us what you really think, Mr Carlson.

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