Marjorie Taylor Greene’s heart breaks every time Hollywood calls Russia ‘the bad guy’

In a turnabout for the ages, recent days and weeks have seen a paradigm shift in how the U.S. and its elected representatives talk about and act towards Russia. Donald Trump, the sitting President of the United States, has described Ukrainian president and war-leader Zelenskyy as a “dictator” while also suggesting that Ukraine somehow bore responsibility for the war, in which Russia attacked Ukraine in an unprovoked invasion.

The president even got into a highly public, literally videoed, argument with Zelenskyy at the White House — reportedly because Trump felt “insulted” by Zelenskyy’s lack of a suit. With such an attitude right at the top, it’s not at all surprising that it’s filtered down into the rank and file members. Almost as if she’s a programmed automaton designed to be wheeled out when necessary, Marjorie Taylor Greene has weighed in with her opinions on Russia — and it’s not great.

Writing on X, the social media platform owned by Trump’s close ally and head of DOGE Elon Musk, MTG penned a heartfelt post about how much she dislikes that Russia is always portrayed as “the bad guy” in movies.

Blaming Hollywood for this, rather than the Russian elite’s warmongering, or its clandestine infiltrations of other states, or its state-sponsored poisoning attacks, MTG suggests that Americans have been “programmed” to think of Russia as an enemy. As if Russia’s own actions across the globe weren’t enough to do just that without any help!

There is a small amount of nuance in MTG’s X post, although not very much. Her call for peace is one echoed across the world, as most sane people want the war in Ukraine to end and for peaceful, profitable trade relations to open up once again. Nobody wants any more war deaths or any further casualties. The problem is that peace has always been in Russia’s control: Russia did not have to invade Ukraine. Russia does not have to continue invading Ukraine. This is a Russian war perpetrated by Putin, one which could end and could have ended at any time if the Russian dictator decided to end it.

It is simply not reasonable to suggest that Ukraine should abandon its sovereignty, its territorial integrity, or its identity to appease a warmongering neighbour to its east. Especially not when Russia has broken an agreement — also signed by the U.S. — to support Ukraine’s borders and territorial integrity. MTG can peddle her doctored rhetoric as much as she wants, but not everyone is going to be blinded by her empty words.

Other users pointed out that Russia isn’t exactly falling over itself to make friends with the U.S. either, spreading exactly the same kinds of violent and aggressive rhetoric as it always has. Russian state media and commentators have described America as the country’s “main enemy.” These are not the words of a friendly country.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s comments can’t be understood in isolation. She’s a mere part of a wider trend where the Republican Party under Trump has undergone — and is still undergoing — a massive shift in its priorities and views, a symptom rather than a cause. It was once unthinkable for an American president to talk about leaving NATO, to praise Putin, or to cover for Russia’s unprovoked invasions of other countries. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case — and while the world waits to see how this all shakes out, Ukraine still burns.