I really don’t think the US right in general knew shit about him before they backed Putin. They had Trump backing him already, he wouldn’t do shady shit to take out Biden before the election. That’s it. They may be retconning their thoughts now but I seriously doubt they were expressing a coherent worldview rather than just Trump good others bad.
Even in Europe, which his country is part of, he was only known as a neoliberal who used to be on dancing with stars.
