Trump concluded that the media is trying to turn the praise of Putin into something negative and that his Republican rivals were “jealous as hell”.
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SCARBOROUGH: Well, also it’s a person who kills journalists, political opponents and invades countries. “Obviously that would be a concern, would it not?”
“I want to stress that these are by far not all of our capabilities”, Putin said.
“People say, ‘What do you mean?’ I just think we would”.
TRUMP: There’s a lot of stupidity in the world right now, Joe. A lot of stupidity. You asked me a different question.
“Oh sure, absolutely”, Trump replied.
In October, Trump said he would “get along very well” with Putin, lauding the Russian leader for his military intervention in Syria.
“I think what he’s saying is, you know, a bit of bravado, telling them they’re doing a good job and our military is on the case and we can certainly bring in more”, said Doughterty, a former CNN correspondent who’s now a research scholar.
Trump refused to back down, telling FoxNews.com in a statement on Friday, “It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond”.
Trump’s opponents in the GOP field have slammed the billionaire for his warm response to Putin. He’s actually got popularity within his country. “They respect him as a leader”.
A super PAC supporting Kasich unleashed a number of attack ads targeting Trump last month.
Trump pointed out that Putin appears to be much better liked than Barack Obama.
“Sen. Cruz’s silence suggests he endorses (Trump’s positions) in some way”, Walsh said.
The Ohio governor’s campaign unveiled a new website and video Saturday satirically touting a Trump-Putin 2016 bid for the White House. “And I don’t know who does the polls”.
In an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, host Mika Brezinski asked Trump about comments Putin had made about him the day before.
Building his political rise on one controversial comment after the next, Trump has never backed down.
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And in Ukraine, where Russian Federation has taken an aggressive posture supporting separatist rebels after first annexing Crimea, Trump has also called for a lighter US footprint despite the bulk of his party urging stronger action there.
