Trump On Putin’s Killings: America Is ‘Not So Innocent’
In a preview of the Fox News interview that will air on during the Super Bowl on Sunday, Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s killing of critics is what makes him a strong leader. Trump also equated Putin’s killings with America, saying that our own country isn’t “so innocent.”
When asked by O’Reilly if he respects Putin Trump said, “I do respect him. Well, I respect a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean I’ll get along with them.”
“Putin is a killer,” O’Reilly responded.
“There are a lot of killers. We have a lot of killers,” Trump said. “Well, you think our country is so innocent?”
This isn’t the first time that Trump has praised Putin or dismissed his killings by equating them with America’s actions. The Washington Post which reported on the exchange with O’Reily noted the following from an interview Trump did in 2015.
According to the Washington Post, “In a 2015 interview on ‘Morning Joe,’ Trump was pressed on the same issue and gave a similar answer.
‘He kills journalists that don’t agree with him,’ the show’s host, Joe Scarborough, pointed out.
‘Well, I think that our country does plenty of killing, too, Joe,’ Trump said.”
