Republican congressman warns that Russian propaganda has ‘infected’ parts of the GOP

Two Republican congressmen have warned that Russian propaganda has “infected” parts of the GOP.

During an interview on Sunday with CNN’s Jake Tapper on State of the Union, House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Turner said Russian propaganda has “absolutely” seeped its way to Congress, adding that some of his colleagues have repeated false claims made by the Russians on the Congress floor.

“It is absolutely true we see,directly coming from Russia, attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor,” he said.

It is not clear which members of Congress he was referring to.

His remarks came after House Foreign Affairs chair Michael McCaul told Puck News last week that Russian propaganda has “infected a good chunk” of the GOP base.

Mr McCaul blamed conservative media outlets for pushing Russian propaganda, including “nighttime entertainment shows” that spew “identical” talking points being used by Russian state media.

On Sunday, RNC Chair Michael Whatley appeared on Fox News where he falsely claimed Ukraine was an “aggressive” opponent of the US along with China and Iran.

The same day, Mr Turner warned that when Russian propaganda is repeated, it masks the real reason for the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“There are members of Congress today who still incorrectly say that this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is over NATO, which of course it is not,” he said, adding: “Vladimir Putin having made it very clear, both publicly and to his own population, that his view is that this is a conflict of a much broader claim of Russia to Eastern Europe, including claiming all of Ukraine territory as Russia’s.”

“To the extent that this