During an interview on state-owned Russian network RT America two days ago, Donald Trump criticized US foreign policy and the American political press corps while speaking with Larry King. RT, which airs in several countries in English and Russian, is funded by the Russian government, and has been regularly accused of a pro-Kremlin bias. This interview came as Trump came under fire for praising Vladimir Putin, much to the discomfort of many Republicans.
During an NBC presidential forum earlier this week, Trump went further in his praise, saying that Putin has been a better leader than Obama. Asked by Larry King what surprised him most about the political process, Trump spoke about the American press, calling the media “unbelievably dishonest”. The Trump campaign recently lifted a ban on various news outlets, which he accused of bias in their coverage. He also dismissed accusations that he doesn’t have a firm grasp on military issues, insisting that he has a “very distinct plan” and knocking foreign policy under Obama and Bush.
When King asked Trump if he believed reports that Russian hackers targeted Democratic Party databases to influence the election, Trump said he didn’t believe that to be the case. When asked if the hack was a “public service” like Putin insisted, Trump said he didn’t have an opinion on it.
Trump’s foes have criticized him for being overly pro-Russian, with his former campaign chairman coming under fire after being named in a Ukrainian corruption investigation that tied him to a pro-Kremlin party. Before that, Trump was criticized for an off-handed remark calling on the Russian government to intervene in the election by releasing Clinton’s private emails.
Within minutes of yesterday’s interview, Trump came under fire, most notably from GOP strategist John Weaver. In response, Trump’s campaign tried to downplay the interview by explaining that they didn’t realize it would be broadcast on RT.
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