Once again, Donald Trump forces to me to dabble in foreign policy. Here is Donald Trump today on Morning Joe talking about a compliment from Vladimir Putin, as related by Gawker’s Allie Jones:
Today on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, [Trump] declared, “When people call you brilliant it’s always good. Especially when the person heads up Russia.” Trump then proceeded to ham-handedly defend his new buddy Putin against accusations that he kills journalists.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Mesa, Arizona December 16, 2015. REUTERS/Nancy Wiechec.
When host Joe Scarborough pointed out to Trump that Putin “kills journalists and political opponents” and “invades countries,” Trump countered this way: “He’s running this country, and at least he’s a leader. You know, unlike what we have in this country.”Trump continued, “I think our country does plenty of killing also, Joe. There’s a lot of stupidity going on right now, Joe. A lot of killing and a lot of stupidity. And uh, that’s the way it is…”
At the end of the discussion, Scarborough gave Trump one last chance to say something not insane. “You obviously condemn Vladimir Putin killing journalists and political opponents, right?”
“Oh sure,” Trump responded, as if someone were asking him whether or not he likes baseball. “Absolutely.”
I think the best-case scenario here is that Trump knows as little about Putin’s Russia as he does America’s nuclear force. Maybe he listens to that segment of conservative talk radio that really admires Putin.
Then again, maybe Trump thinks this sort of governmental behavior is no biggie. From Amnesty International’s Russia report:
Media pluralism and the space for the expression of dissenting views shrank markedly. Restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association, introduced in 2012, were assiduously enforced and further added to. Some NGOs faced harassment, public smear campaigns and pressure to register as “foreign agents”. Several protesters and civil society activists were convicted following unfair, politically motivated trials. Torture and other ill-treatment continued to be used with impunity.
Putin! Winning!
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