Conservative rips apart MAGA claims that Ukraine’s president is fighting a 'war on Christianity'

23 December 2022

During his visit to the United States on Wednesday, December 21, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President Joe Biden in the White House and gave an English-language speech during a joint session of Congress. Vice President Kamala Harris and outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood behind Zelensky during his speech, holding up a Ukrainian flag as an expression of solidarity with a country that is experiencing Europe’s worst fighting since World War 2.

Many of the more traditional GOP conservatives in Congress joined Democrats in giving Zelensky a warm reception, but seven far-right MAGA Republicans were so disdainful of the Ukrainian president that they wouldn’t even stand up during his speech. On Twitter, Axios reporter Andrew Solender named the House Republicans who were “repeatedly remaining seated in standing ovations during the Zelensky speech.”

Libertarian/conservative journalist Cathy Young, in a biting article published by The Bulwark on December 22, stressed that the “unhinged” MAGA Republicans who attacked Zelensky during his visit to the U.S. were echoing the talking points of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. One of the anti-Zelensky talking points that often comes from Putin allies in Russia and MAGA Republicans in the U.S. is that Zelensky, who is Jewish, is anti-Christian — a claim that Never Trump conservative Matt Lewis tears apart in a December 23 column for the Daily Beast.

“The charge that Zelensky is at war with Christianity is potentially a potent wedge issue on the right, particularly as Republicans, many of whom are Christian — and many of whom are increasingly skeptical of foreign entanglements — take control of the U.S. House of Representatives next month,” Lewis writes. “Most Republicans still support aiding Ukraine, but support is declining. If this narrative takes hold, it is sure to negatively impact our role as an ally.”

The conservative Daily Beast opinion columnist continues, “Russia knows this. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, wasted no time in casting Zelensky as an enemy of Christendom, saying, ‘The current Ukrainian authorities have openly become enemies of Christ and the Orthodox faith.’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov went so far as to accuse Ukraine of ‘waging a war on the Russian Orthodox Church.’”

Lewis goes on to present some data showing that most of Zelensky’s supporters in Ukraine are, in fact, Christians.

“It seems to me that if Zelensky is actually waging a war on Christianity, then it is an ill-advised war against his own constituents,” Lewis explains. “According to the Pew Research Center, 78 percent of Ukrainians identify as Orthodox — a higher percentage than exists in Russia. Meanwhile, only ‘14 percent of the public called themselves faithful to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.’ That leaves a lot of Christians with whom Zelensky isn’t at war.”

Lewis points out that Zelensky “doesn’t talk like a man who is at war with Christians,” adding that during his December 21 speech before Congress, he described Christmas celebrations in Ukraine.

Zelensky told Congress, “We will celebrate Christmas. Maybe candlelit. Not because it’s more romantic, no, but because…. there will be no electricity… We’ll celebrate Christmas. Celebrate Christmas. And even if there is no electricity, the light of our faith in ourselves will not be put out.”

The claim that Jews are trying to force Gentiles to give up their religion is an antisemitic trope from way back. But as Lewis stresses in his December 23 column, Zelensky certainly doesn’t talk like someone who has any problem with Ukrainians practicing Christianity. During his speech before Congress, he sounded like he welcomed it.

“The bottom line is this: It’s impossible for anyone to know exactly what is happening in Ukraine,” Lewis writes. “But I’m inclined to trust Zelensky over Putin. You’d probably have to believe in Santa Claus to believe otherwise.”

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