Mr Putin is “very much of a leader”, Mr Trump said in a televised interview, where he and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton were separately grilled over their national security and military credentials.
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While deriding Vladimir Putin as a thug and a scoundrel Thursday, many congressional Republicans agreed that Donald Trump was onto something when he called Putin a stronger leader than Barack Obama. “Now, that is not just unpatriotic and insulting for the people of our country as well as to our commander in chief, it is scary”.
The night before, Trump contrasted Putin favorably to President Obama during NBC News’s “Commander-in-Chief Forum”. “We hope that with the completion of the election campaigns we will see such political will towards straightening up good relations between the states”.
The billionaire businessman, who has closed the gap on Hillary Clinton according to recent polls, praised Mr Putin for maintaining “great control over his country”. “Far more than our president has been a leader”, he said. Trump has downplayed the severity of the intrusion and even invited – sarcastically, he claimed – Russian Federation to hack Clinton’s own emails.
Ryan went on to criticize Putin for cyberattacks on the US political system. He deduced, from the “body language” of those briefing him, that the leading Democrats “did exactly the opposite” of what experts recommended in several instances. Speaking to reporters, House Speaker Paul Ryan called Putin “an aggressor that does not share our interests”. “He is acting like an adversary”.
Obama hit back at Trump on Thursday for criticizing his foreign policy record, saying the Republican nominee for the November 8 election was unfit to follow him into the Oval Office and the public should press him on his “outright wacky ideas”.
“We should make it a top priority to hunt down the leader of ISIS”, she said, adding, “I believe it will send a resounding message that no one directs or inspires attacks against the USA and gets away with it”. “I’m a negotiator. We’re going to take back our country”, said the GOP candidate.
US President Barack Obama said the property developer proved himself unfit for the job “every time he speaks”. “And when you speak, it should actually reflect thought-out policy that you can implement”. Trump found the opportunity in his segment to once again praise the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and seemed to promise to fire the generals now presiding over the nation’s armed forces.
Asked by Lauer to defend his compliments to Putin as “a man so highly respected within his country and beyond”, Trump doubled down.
The former secretary of state vowed to defeat the Islamic State group, though she emphasised: “We are not putting ground troops into Iraq ever again”. She also quickly reminded the audience, on the floating museum and at home, that she had been in “that small situation room” with Mr Obama when the decision to take out Osama bin Laden was taken.
Earlier Wednesday, Mr Trump pledged to increase U.S. military spending – already at levels far higher than any other nation – and to demand a plan to beat the Islamic State (IS) group if he becomes president.
On Thursday, Clinton denounced this approach.
“We made the world safer”, she said.
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“And that’s not even getting into the absurdity of what it would involve – massive infrastructure, large numbers of troops, many years on the ground”.
