Not since the days after Sept. 11, 2001, have Americans been as united on an issue of foreign policy as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the new Washington Post-ABC poll, 80 percent of Americans, including more than three quarters of Democrats and Republicans, view Russia as unfriendly or an enemy — the highest level of animosity toward Moscow since the Cold War. But Russian President Vladimir Putin still has one prominent American admirer: former president Donald Trump. And in the United States, Putin’s war has taken Trump’s personality cult to new lows.

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) denounced Putin, expressed prayers and support for Ukraine and denounced President Biden’s approach to the conflict as “half measures.” Then the host asked Cotton what he thought of Trump praising Putin as “very savvy” and calling his strategy this past week “genius.”

If ever there was a time a Republican could chide Trump, this would be it. Before this past week, die-hard Trumpists were comfortable praising Russia’s president. (“Putin puts Russia first as he should,” Republican Rep. Paul A. Gosar of Arizona tweeted last August.) But as the tanks rolled toward Kyiv this past week, those same voices focused on criticizing President Biden and NATO or downplaying Ukraine’s importance to the United States. Only Trump, even as he condemned the invasion Saturday, still went out of his way to call Putin “smart.”

But even a light criticism was a line Cotton would not cross. “George, you heard what I had to say about Vladimir Putin,” Cotton replied, without a word about the former president.

Three more times, Stephanopoulos repeated the question. Three more times, Cotton refused to answer. “George, if you want to know what Donald Trump thinks about Vladimir Putin or any other topic, I’d encourage you to invite him on your show,” the senator said.

The cowardice is obvious. As Stephanopoulos pointed out, “if a Barack Obama or Joe Biden said something like that, you’d be first in line to criticize him.” And Cotton has had no issues with engaging with Trump through the media. This is the same senator who used Fox News and the New York Times to urge the then-president to deploy troops and “restore order to our streets” during 2020′s racial justice protests. Rather than criticize the president, though, Cotton tried to hide with an answer that will surely satisfy no one — not the millions who rightly detest Putin nor the Trump die-hards who only want full-throated defenses of their hero.

But milquetoast dodges appear to be the standard for most of Cotton’s fellow Republicans. At this past weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference, CBS reporter Robert Costa had no trouble finding other Republican lawmakers equally scared to address the former president. “Listen, there’s lots of things present in terms of foreign policy,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) stammered. “We clearly all ought to be condemning what’s going on in Ukraine,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said — but when asked whether “we” includes Trump, Scott replied, “That’s a decision” for President Trump.

In recent months, there’s been speculation that Trump’s grip over the Republican Party is loosening. The past few days are a chilling reminder that, no matter how loathsome his utterances, all but a tiny fraction of the GOP lives in terror of crossing him. And for the faithful, the fervor remains ardent. At CPAC, the New York Times reports, “every speaker emphasized personal connections to Mr. Trump, no matter how spurious, while others adopted both his aggrieved tone and patented hand gestures.” No wonder other 2024 hopefuls such as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) are being advised to wait until 2028.

Returning to the White House after losing reelection is no easy task. It’s only happened once in U.S. history (Grover Cleveland in 1892). But never before has our political system experienced a personality cult such as Trump’s. If Democrats aren’t careful, 2024 could mark his ruinous return. And cowards such as Cotton will be of no help.