Pat Buchanan: ‘Putin is trying to re-establish Russia’s moral compass’
US conservative political commentator Pat Buchanan has jumped to President Vladimir Putin’s defence over the passage of Russia’s anti-gay legislation.
Mr Buchanan criticised the international response levelled at Russia over the implementation of the gay “propaganda” law as well as the ban on gay couples adopting children in Russia. He said that “America’s moral and cultural elites have put Putin on notice.”
Many LGBT campaigners and politicians have criticised Russia over the increasingly anti-gay position it has taken in the run-up to the Sochi Winter Olympics. Buchanan said that all Putin was trying to do “was re-establish Russia’s moral compass before it fell to Communism.”
Buchanan attempted to gain the Republican Party Presidential nomination twice, once in 1992 and then again in 1996. He attempted a third run for the Reform Party ticket in 2000 but only managed to come forth in the popular vote.
He has famously made anti-gay comments in the past when he called for the banning of gay pride in New York because it was responsible for the spread of the AIDS pandemic. In the past he has also complained that “militant gays” were trying to take him off the air.
