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| Photo: Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik/Reuters |
Kremlin leader’s comments mark first time he has publicly addressed 2024 U.S. election
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he preferred President Biden to Donald Trump in the U.S. election, describing the president as “more experienced” and “predictable” in his first public comments on the race.
In an interview with Russian state television released late Wednesday, Putin said Biden “is a politician of the old school” and added that Moscow would work with any elected U.S. leader. Trump, meanwhile, mentioned Putin’s remarks during a campaign rally Wednesday night in South Carolina.
“He’s just said that he would much rather have Joe Biden as president than Trump. Now that’s a compliment. A lot of people said, ‘Oh, gee, that’s too bad.’ No, no, that’s a good thing.”
Current and former U.S. officials in Washington met Putin’s remarks with skepticism, pointing to Russia’s attempts to boost Trump and harm Democrats in previous elections, according to declassified assessments from intelligence agencies.
“Mr. Putin should just stay out of our elections,” said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Thursday.
Putin, who faces an election next month that he is expected to win after Russian authorities eliminated any serious opposition, has publicly praised Trump in the past. Ahead of the 2016 election, Putin described then-candidate Trump as a “colorful and talented person, without a doubt.”
In 2018, Putin appeared in Helsinki at a press conference next to Trump and when asked whether he supported Trump in 2016 replied, “Yes, I did. Because he talked about bringing the U.S.-Russia relationship back to normal.”
The U.S. later accused the Kremlin of interfering in the 2016 election, allegations that cast a shadow over the Trump presidency. Putin has denied those allegations and defended Trump.
Even as he praised Biden on Wednesday, Putin also sharply criticized his administration’s policies toward Russia, as the war in Ukraine nears its second anniversary.
“I believe that the position of the current administration is extremely harmful and misguided,” he said.
In the interview, Putin expressed no regret over starting the war. “We can only regret that we didn’t act earlier,” he said. --->READ MORE HERE (or HERE)
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprising pick in the upcoming US presidential election, saying he prefers “predictable” President Joe Biden over Donald Trump, who’s complimented Putin over the years.
“[Biden] is a more experienced, predictable person, a politician of the old school,” Putin, 71, told interviewer Pavel Zarubin on Rossiya 1 TV. “But we will work with any U.S. president who the American people have confidence in.”
Russia has been widely accused of meddling in the 2016 election by numerous US intelligence agencies. Putin is widely believed to be interested in stoking internal US divisions.
Throughout his presidency, former President Donald Trump, 77, was dogged by accusations from critics that he was overly cozy with the Russian leader.
Even after his presidency, Trump continued to speak highly of Putin, calling him a “genius” and “savvy” after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Despite his rhetoric, Trump’s administration took some hardline actions against the Kremlin, overseeing harsh sanctions against Moscow and sending lethal arms to Ukraine, something his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, declined to do.
Biden, 81, took that a step further in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, dialing up sanctions to another level and marshaling even more weaponry to the war-torn ally.
Trump has since voiced skepticism about the aid being sent to Ukraine, suggesting that writing a loan would be a smarter approach, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
Recently, he triggered backlash for bashing members of the NATO alliance who do not uphold their commitment to spend 2% of their gross domestic product on defense.
“I said, ‘Everybody’s gonna pay.’ They said, ‘Well, if we don’t pay, are you still going to protect us?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer,” Trump recalled at a rally in Conway, South Carolina over the weekend. --->READ MORE HERE
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