Trump had said Wednesday that it was not known “for a fact” that Russia was behind the hacking. And he questioned why the United States shouldn’t work closer with Russia to “knock the hell out of ISIS.”
He called in Thursday night to RT America, the Russian television station, and told host Larry King that he was unfamiliar with Putin’s claim that the DNC hacking was a “public service”
“I don’t have any opinion on it,” Trump told King. “I don’t know anything about it. I don’t know who hacked; I’m not sure who. I mean, you tell me who hacked. Who did the hacking? I have absolutely no opinion on that.”
LOL, you could replace "hacked" with "David Duke" in above sentence, and still have another verbatim Donald Trump quote:
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September 8, 2016 7:20 PM
GOP pushes back against Trump’s growing embrace of Putin
By Lesley Clark
mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON - Republicans chafed at Donald Trump’s growing praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, warning that the Russian leader is no ally of the United States and underscoring an internal GOP debate a generation after Ronald Reagan made strong skepticism of Russia a bedrock principle of the party.
Trump – who has for months complimented Putin as a decisive leader, said at a town hall forum Wednesday that Putin has “been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader” and that he welcomes Putin’s praise.
Pressed on Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and 2014 annexation of Crimea, Trump did not demur. “Do you want me to start naming some of the things that President Obama does at the same time?” Trump asked moderator Matt Lauer. He also marveled at Putin’s 82 percent approval rating among Russians.
Trump’s running mate reinforced the praise for Putin on Thursday, also contrasting him favorably with President Barack Obama. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence called it “inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been stronger in his country than Barack Obama has been in his country.”
The praise, coming a day after Trump also ridiculed American generals as “rubble,” sparked an immediate debate among Republicans, who stressed that they have their differences with Obama but criticized Trump for siding with an autocratic leader.
“If you are running to be leader of the free world and you find admiration for Putin, well, then, you’re losing me,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “I think Vladimir Putin is a thug, a dictator, an autocratic ruler who has his opposition killed in the streets of Russia. He has dismembered his neighbor.”
Graham said he thought Putin had “walked all over” Obama but that he couldn’t agree that “Putin’s a better leader than a democratically elected president of the United States, even though I have differences with him.”
</snip> Read the rest here: mcclatchydc.com |
