January 1, Trump’s Praise of Putin Draws Ire From All Sides

Former President Donald Trump’s recent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin has sparked ire from all angles.

Trump praised Putin’s aggression as “genius,” calling him “very savvy” for describing the troops aligned on the Ukrainian border as peacekeepers.

“Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’ a large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper,” Trump said.

“That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re going to keep peace, all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy.”

Trump’s remarks were broadcast on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show around the same time that President Joe Biden announced an initial set of sanctions against Russia.

Trump ridiculed Biden and accused him of failing to address Putin’s recognition of two Russia-backed separatist territories in Ukraine as independent republics.

“There was no response,” Trump said, calling it “very sad.”

Trump’s comments were swiftly condemned by mainstream media outlets and lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

“It should concern us all that Putin is exactly the kind of leader Trump would like to be, and that so few Republicans have the courage to say this out loud,” Sanders tweeted.

It is outrageous, if unsurprising, that Trump would praise Putin’s murderous invasion of Ukraine as an act of “genius.” It should concern us all that Putin is exactly the kind of leader Trump would like to be, and that so few Republicans have the courage to say this out loud.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 24, 2022

Several Republicans also denounced Trump’s praise of Putin, including Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).

“Former President Trump’s adulation of Putin today — including calling him a ‘genius’ — aids our enemies,” Cheney tweeted. “Trump’s interests don’t seem to align with the interests of the United States of America.”

Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster split with Trump, saying Putin wasn’t worthy of praise.

“He is certainly not someone to be praised, and I think what we ought to be encouraged by is the reaction across the free world. Really what Putin wants more than anything is disunity, because disunity will lead to an ineffective response,” McMaster said.

JUST NOW: "He is certainly not someone to be praised… This is one campaign in his larger effort to drag everybody else down."

Gen. H.R.McMaster breaking thematically from Trump and @mikepompeo on the "genius" of Putinpic.twitter.com/p8MQ3cX3rP

— John Berman (@JohnBerman) February 24, 2022

Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba criticized Trump’s comments on Thursday.

“It’s good that the United States is not neighbors of Russia, otherwise no one in the United States would have such an opinion about President Putin,” Kuleba said.

---

Source:

Trump praises ‘genius’ Putin for moving troops to eastern Ukraine