Hillary Clinton said that President Trump’s comments about Vladimir Putin’s ‘genius’ need to be called out by Republicans as she claimed that some in the GOP are sympathetic to Putin because of his ‘anti-gay’ and ‘anti-democracy’ stance.
‘I want to make sure within our own country that we are calling out those people who are giving aid and comfort to Vladimir Putin about what a genius he is what a smart move it is, who are unfortunately, being broadcast by Russian media, not only inside Russia but in Europe to demonstrate the division within our own country,’ the 2016 Democratic nominee said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday.
‘Maybe this terrible aggression by Putin will stiffen the spines of a lot of Republicans in office who understand you cannot continue to give Trump and his enablers a blank check because they will lead us to a very bad place,’ she continued.
Clinton then suggested that ‘too many Republicans’ are ‘naive in such a dangerous way.’
‘They somehow believe that because Putin presents himself as a strong leader on behalf of certain values that are you know, anti gay, that are anti, you know, freedom and democracy that so messy, that somehow you know, that quote corresponds with the views of certain members and elements of the Republican Party.’
‘They could not be more mistaken,’ she continued. ‘I mean, he poisons people in prisons.’
Hillary Clinton suggested that ‘too many Republicans’ are ‘naive in such a dangerous way’
Clinton suggested that Trump Republicans view Putin favorably because he is ‘anti-gay’ and ‘anti-democracy’
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, had a go at Clinton on Fox and Friends for her attack on Trump.
‘That is an appalling statement, to place blame on the last administration,’ Crenshaw said.
‘Talk about Trump, what about how he dealt with NATO and Russian aggression. He was telling allies to increase defense spending and telling allies, Germany, stop relying on Russian oil and gas, this is removing leverage, don’t ask us to protect you when you rely on them for energy,’ the Texas Republican rattled off.
‘Germany cancelled import terminal and France cancels contracts with Texas lng companies there is long history of failure here, it is not the trump administration and shame on her, she knows that, shame on her for being so partisan, we need to be united with allies against Russia right now.’
Crenshaw then claimed that Biden ‘destroyed our oil and gas sector.’
Clinton also called on the Biden administration to step up its game with Ukraine’s defense. She said that she supports sending more U.S. troops overseas to bolster Ukraine’s defense and talked about the importance of defending NATO allies. Ukraine is not a member of NATO but has pushed to be included in the alliance.
Aftermath of an overnight shelling at a residential area in Kiev, Ukraine, 25 Feb.
A woman with a backpack walks in front of a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where a military shell allegedly hit, on February 25
A woman walks around the wreckage of an unidentified aircraft that crashed into a house in a residential area, after Russia launched a massive military operation against Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 25
‘I strongly believe in supporting with military weapons if necessary, and they are both Ukrainian army and any kind of resistance but I also support putting in more troops,’ she said.
‘I would hope that the administration and our European allies and others would move even more quickly to impose sanctions not only on the economy of Russia, but also on individual actors within that economy all the way up to Putin,’ Clinton said.
‘I think that the only pressure that Putin would respond to or that could have any kind of impact on his thinking would be those who he relies on to launder his money to keep the funding going into his secret accounts.’
‘We’ve got to go after those oligarchs who are supporting Putin financially. They need to pay a price whether their yachts are seized or their homes are seized,’ she said.
Trump on Tuesday called Putin’s invasion plan ‘genius,’ but said it never would have happened under his administration.
Speaking with conservative podcaster Buck Sexton, the former president said: ‘I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, “This is genius,”‘ Trump recalled. ‘Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.’
‘I said, “How smart is that?'” the former U.S. president continued. ‘And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force… We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right.’
‘No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy,’ Trump went on. ‘I know him very well. Very, very, very well. Had I been in office, not even thinkable, this never would have happened.’
Trump added: ‘But here’s a guy that says, you know, ‘I’m gonna declare a big portion of Ukraine independent,’ he used the word ‘independent’ and ‘we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy. And you know what the response was from Biden? There was no response. They didn’t have one for that. No, it’s very sad. Very sad.’
Trump also called President Biden ‘a man who has no concept of what he’s doing.’
Earlier Tuesday Trump claimed that Vladimir Putin never would have invaded Ukraine if he were still president, and said that Russia has become ‘very very rich’ under President Biden.
‘If properly handled, there was absolutely no reason that the situation currently happening in Ukraine should have happened at all,’ Trump said in a statement Tuesday. ‘I know Vladimir Putin very well, and he would have never done during the Trump Administration what he is doing now, no way!’
Trump on Thursday again said Putin’s plan was ‘smart’ as he mocked Biden’s sanctions.
‘He’s taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions, I’d say that’s pretty smart. He’s taking over a country – a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people – just walking right in. This never would have happened and I know him very well.
Democrats jumped on the former president’s remarks.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki hit back at Trump at Tuesday’s press briefing.
‘As a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin and his military strategy, which I believe is what happened there,’ Psaki said.
