General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This message was self-deleted by its author [View all]Hortensis
(58,785 posts)a lot more to their agendas than repealing the ACA and replacing with "MfA." 2016 was not about healthcare, even if some were encouraged to think it was.
It's not so much that LW and RW populists "backed" Putin as that they imagine they could somehow get control if they could bring down the government/"establishment" protected by the Democratic Party. Same alliance of common interests for the same reasons as on the populist right, and in fact including the right against us, as we saw in action in 2016.
Some have seemed genuinely sympathetic to the former socialist union for itself, or perhaps nostalgic for, but only some. Putin has expressed some liking for socialism but said a return to it, except for certain minor elements, was impossible.