 Netflix’s Putin Problem, Tucker’s 180, & the Truth Social Blues
Happy Monday. Welcome back to The Daily Courant, our afternoon capsule of the latest and most important journalism at Puck.
Today, we lead with Tina Nguyen‘s insight-packed dispatch from CPAC, the star-studded, flag-waving, vocal cord-shredding G.O.P. cattle call where party activists were trying to reconcile their support for the Trump–Putin romance with a dawning recognition that maybe Putin isn’t really their friend, after all.
Then, below the fold, don’t miss Matt Belloni‘s exclusive reporting on the Netflix executives who raised alarms about Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos’ deal with a Russian media partner long before Putin invaded Ukraine. And William D. Cohan examines what Shari Redstone can do to turn around Paramount.
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As Russia’s iron curtain descends on Ukraine, the Republican base is torn between Tucker Carlson’s isolationism, Trump’s Putin idolatry, and the gun-toting, “Red Dawn” fantasy of Zelensky’s heroic, Alamo-esque stand. Last Friday, I flew down to Florida for an event I hadn’t attended since 2020: the Conservative Political Action Conference, the flag-waving, vocal cord-shredding G.O.P. cattle call in which Republican activists gather annually to cheer, boo, and coalesce around whichever policies and party leaders are currently in vogue. CPAC hadn’t initially been on my weekend calendar, but Vladimir Putin’s violent invasion of Ukraine compelled me to book the first available flight to Orlando. Republicans, after all, have undergone several recent whiplash-inducing evolutions in their rhetorical posture toward Russia, from Strangelovian hawkishness to paleocon whataboutism and, in the case of Donald Trump, almost lusty Russophilia. So I was fascinated to discover, upon arriving at CPAC, that the conservative base appeared to have pivoted once again.
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Just a week earlier, Trump had been recorded telling a group of G.O.P. donors that Putin’s tactics in Ukraine were “genius.” But on the ground at the Hyatt Regency Orlando, several keynote speakers appeared practically incandescent on behalf of Ukraine, deeply and profoundly affected by the unjustifiably vicious nature of the Russian invasion. Sebastian Gorka, one of Trump’s first White House aides, received rapturous applause after bellowing his hope that the “Russian invaders bleed and die!” Former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and radio show host Mark Levin were similarly apoplectic, with Levin’s pro-Ukraine stance garnering standing ovations. Contrast that with Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of the most dovish MAGA celebrities, who received a muted response when he asked the audience, “Why should we care about Ukraine?”
FOUR STORIES WE’RE TALKING ABOUT 
Hastings and Sarandos’ deal with a Russian media partner with ties to Putin was already controversial, even before Putin’s invasion.
MATTHEW BELLONI 
The unitary response from Europe has caught Americans off guard. But the invasion of Ukraine has touched a raw nerve.
JULIA IOFFE 
Economic sanctions targeting Russia are raising new questions about Milner’s past financial partners. So far, he’s staying quiet.
THEODORE SCHLEIFER 
Shari Redstone’s new Paramount Global has stumbled on Wall Street. Could a new CEO be the answer?
WILLIAM D. COHAN
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