Almost half of Republicans don’t view people who praise Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin less favorably than those who don’t, and a slim plurality of GOP voters hold that view.

Since the current strife in Ukraine began, a range of figures popular in Republican politics have offered a veritable buffet of praise for Putin, from former President Donald Trump’s seemingly constant offerings to the steady diet of Russia apologia from Tucker Carlson. But they won’t pay much of a price with GOP voters for that praise.

Respondents to a new Quinnipiac University poll were told “As you may know, some politicians and media figures have had words of praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin in the last several weeks,” and were asked “Does that make you view those individuals more favorably, less favorably, or doesn’t it affect your opinion of those individuals?”

A large 57 percent majority of all respondents said they would view those individuals less favorably, with 36 percent saying it wouldn’t affect their opinion — and just two percent saying they would view people who praise Putin more favorably.

But there was a stark partisan divide, as Quinnipiac notes, with more Republicans than not saying it would make no difference to them:

• among Democrats: 81 percent say they view those individuals less favorably, while 16 percent say it doesn’t affect their opinion;
• among independents: 54 percent say they view those individuals less favorably, while 39 percent say it doesn’t affect their opinion;
• among Republicans: 45 percent say they view those individuals less favorably, while 46 percent say it doesn’t affect their opinion.

The greatest disparity on this question was between people who are following news about the invasion “Very closely” (64 percent Less favorably vs. 29 percent Doesn’t affect) or “Somewhat closely” (56 percent Less favorably vs. 38 percent Doesn’t affect) , versus those who are following news about the invasion “Not too closely” (30 percent Less favorably vs. 62 percent Doesn’t affect).

No group got above the 4 percent of respondents over 65 years of age who said they view people who praise Putin “More favorably.”

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