(AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Dr. Scott Jensen tweeted his support for Ukraine on Feb. 23, the eve of Russia’s military invasion into the country despite months ago expressing appreciation for Russian President Vladmir Putin in a speech last September.

Jensen’s social media solidarity for Ukraine caused some confusion amongst his supporters. One Twitter user, @DanGleeken, wrote to him in a reply: “You’re nuts. I’m with Trump on this – clearly you are not,” referring to former President Donald Trump’s praise of Russian President Vladmir Putin. The tweet continued, “You just lost my vote for Governor.”

The candidate’s tweet appears to contrast the only other time he’s publicly expressed his views on Russia. Last September during a Minnesota’s Word of Life Church Faith & Freedom meeting, Jensen discussed how he became Minnesota’s “most investigated doctor” after claiming on Fox News that doctors are encouraged to diagnose patients with COVID-19 for money. (ABC10 fact-checked this claim and found it to be false.)

Though Jensen sparked controversy in the U.S. over his COVID misinformation, he says his claims were well-received when it was broadcast on Moscow news. He said: “Moscow’s making a big deal about, in America, they’re so afraid of the truth that a doctor who tells the truth gets in trouble. And I thought, ‘Well, I never really expected any help from Mr. Putin, but I’m getting it.’”

In April 2020, the Star Tribune in Minneapolis found that comments Jensen made on Laura Ingram’s Fox News show questioning New York City’s COVID death count made it onto the state-run Russia Today network. Experts told the Star Tribune that state actors like RT were engaging in a disinformation campaign about the pandemic in similar fashion to the 2016 U.S. presidential election disinformation campaigns.

Jensen has never gone public with other opinions on Putin. He recently came under fire after using stock images from countries including Russia, Ukraine, Thailand and the U.K. in a campaign video that was supposed to be celebrating the marvels of Minnesota.

The candidate’s team has not responded to a request for comment by press time.