Conservative columnist Matt Lewis has written a scathing column for the Daily Beast in which he tears apart the Republican Party he once supported for spouting Russian propaganda that they know to be false.
Lewis in particular hammers Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who has been toying with the conspiracy theory that Ukraine was the country that really interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
"One of the GOP’s top Putin water-carriers has been Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, who continues to advance disinformation that matches Russian talking points," he writes. "What makes Kennedy’s comments especially egregious is that, according to a recent New York Times report, 'American intelligence officials informed senators and their aides in recent weeks that Russia had engaged in a yearslong campaign to essentially frame Ukraine as responsible for Moscow’s own hacking of the 2016 election, according to three American officials.'"
Lewis notes that President Donald Trump's complete refusal to accept any dissent within the GOP ranks has led Republican lawmakers to embrace conspiracy theories that have been repeatedly debunked.
"Even if you dismiss the possibility that something truly nefarious is at play between Trump and Russia, you’re still left with a pretty startling and undeniable development: The GOP has become the Russia party," he writes. "This is nothing short of a stunning reversal."
Editor's note: A previous version of this story inferred that Kennedy has advanced the theory that Russia didn't interfere with the 2016 election at all. This is incorrect.Â
