Former President Donald Trump skipped another opportunity to call Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions evil on Wednesday, then boasted about how well he knew the dictator.
“I knew Putin very well. Almost as well as I know you, Sean,” Trump told his close confidante, Fox News host Sean Hannity, as the network aired graphic images of dead bodies and the damage left by Russian troops in Ukraine.
“I will tell you, we talked about it, we talked about it a lot, he did want Ukraine, but I said, ‘You’re not going into Ukraine,’” Trump continued. “He would never, ever have gone into Ukraine.”
Minutes earlier, Hannity had prompted Trump to denounce Putin.
“I asked you the last time you were on, whether you think that this is evil in our time,” Hannity said. “Do you believe this is evil in our time?”
Trump did not answer the question; instead ,he ranted about NATO.
“Don’t forget, I rebuilt NATO,” Trump falsely claimed.
Trump also called what was happening in Ukraine a “genocide,” joining President Joe Biden in characterizing Russia’s atrocities as such.
Trump: I knew Putin very well. Almost as well as I know you Sean. pic.twitter.com/Ch0Lvytj7N — Acyn (@Acyn) April 14, 2022
Last month, Hannity tried twice to get Trump to condemn Putin during an on-air interview, to no avail. Trump also faced backlash after initially praising what he called the authoritarian leader’s “genius” strategy for invading Ukraine. He has repeatedly insisted that Putin would not have dared invade Ukraine if he was still president.
Hannity and Trump’s eldest sons have offered their own commentary on the former president’s relationship to Putin. Hannity said Trump’s praise of the Russian president was “taken out of context.” Donald Trump Jr. claimed his dad’s affection for dictators was an act in order to “play these guys.” And Eric Trump lauded his father’s “great relationship” with Putin and claimed that if he was still running the country, he would have simply called Putin and said, “Vladimir, don’t even think about” invading Ukraine.
wish1977 on April 14th, 2022 at 11:41 UTC »
Trump doesn't want to piss off Putin for some reason. I wonder why? The rest of what I read is just nonsense. If anybody thinks that Trump told Putin not to go into Ukraine I have some swampland I'd like to sell you.
CR0Wmurder on April 14th, 2022 at 11:33 UTC »
And this motherfucker took directives by Sean on what programming to do on the nightly basis
And the other motherfucker tried calling him during the coup
Remember when Trump sent the translator away to talk to Putin alone? Goddamn talk about sending the head sheep to talk to a wolf
wraithtek on April 14th, 2022 at 11:25 UTC »