“He was born in Hawaii”, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told CNN.
Advertisement
Trump, who has faced backlash from both parties in recent days for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, was interviewed by Larry King, a veteran American journalist whose show airs Thursday evenings on RT America, the US partner of a network originally called “Russia Today”.
During an NBC presidential forum Wednesday evening, Trump went farther in his praise and said that Putin has been a better leader than President Barack Obama: “Certainly, in that system, he’s been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader”, Trump said. “I think maybe the Democrats are putting that out”, Trump said.
He was responding directly to Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential pick Tim Kaine, who said Pence and Trump “need to be called out as unpatriotic” for their comments on Putin. After Trump appeared on King’s podcast, King repeatedly lobbied Trump for a TV interview, he told Burnett: “I’ve said, ‘You gotta do my TV show, ‘ he said, ‘I’m working on it, I’m working on it'”. The candidate told host Larry King that it was “probably unlikely” that Moscow is interfering in USA elections and that claims that it is are probably coming from the Democrats, Politico reports. “I think it’s probably unlikely”, Trump said. Trump then attacked Obama and Clinton, the president’s first secretary of state, for their roles in the US troop withdrawal from Iraq.
Donald Trump has frequently expressed his admiration for the Russian president – despite knowing all his vices, including allegations about murdering journalists. “If he’s been nice to me, that’s fine, it’s not going to make a difference”.
“So, can I say I was surprised?” In a Thursday interview with King, Trump said the Russian government “probably” did not meddle in the American presidential race, and that the Hillary Clinton camp’s suggestion otherwise was politically motivated. “I just say this way, wouldn’t it be great if the United States and Russian Federation got along, combined, knocked out ISIS, maybe did other positive things?”
While Trump has leveled similar criticism in the past, doing so on Russian television could draw more criticism from those who have questioned his overtures to Putin, including a number of Republicans. We will not seek endless conflict and hostility; we won’t get trapped in the failed approaches of the past.
Advertisement
RT America is among several companies that “license these and other Ora programs for distribution around the world”, she said, stressing that King is not employed by the Russian station.
