Since the beginning of Russia’s attempted conquest of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has stolen the hearts and minds of millions across the West, demonstrating incredible fortitude in the face of barbarity. However, there’s one group Zelensky seems to have failed to win over: the American Right.
Ukraine’s failure to endear itself to conservatives in the United States has been blamed on everything from negative partisanship to rightist Russophilia to the “current thing” phenomenon. All of these explanations may be true to one extent or another. But Zelensky certainly hasn’t done himself any favors in garnering support from this all-important constituency.
Take his phone call this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which he characterized as “long and meaningful.” “I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine’s ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations,” Zelensky posted on Twitter.
I had a long and meaningful phone call with 🇨🇳 President Xi Jinping. I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine's ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 26, 2023
Some experts don’t expect much to come of this conversation, but if there’s one thing that unites nearly everyone on the right, with the possible exceptions of Sohrab Ahmari and Rod Dreher, it’s opposition to the Chinese Communist Party. If Zelensky wants to bolster the fallacious narrative that our support for his country somehow benefits China, even though Moscow has essentially become China’s junior partner in crime, this is a great way to do it. He’s lucky Tucker Carlson no longer has the same platform to peddle lies about its efforts to defend itself, otherwise Putin would’ve scored a major American propaganda coup.
But that’s not all. Zelensky could teach a master class in self-sabotage. His wife’s appearance on the cover of Vogue magazine and his support for progressive social causes have played into the hands of those who claim the Ukrainian resistance is a cause of the coastal elites.
Zelensky needs to course-correct immediately. If a Republican makes it to the White House in 2024, he or she will likely be far less sympathetic to Ukraine’s war for survival. To increase support among conservatives, he should avoid U.S. political entanglements and stress that his nation’s fight is for Western civilization, not its decadent distortions.