Putin's complaints about 'cancel culture' make him sound like an American conservative: op-ed

In a statement this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a reference to author J.K. Rowling, saying that backlash the Harry Potter creator received for her comments on transgender people weren't unlike the the sanctions being leveled at Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

“They are now trying to cancel our country. I’m talking about the progressive discrimination of everything to do with Russia,” Putin said.

Writing in the Bulwark this Friday, Jonathan Last contends that Putin is starting to sound like an American conservative, saying that you can hear the same kind of rhetoric emanating from the American right wing.

"Just something to keep in mind the next time you see the people who were apologizing for Putin up until five minutes ago insisting how they have nothing at all to do with that guy," Last writes.