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   From: jthomq@gmail.com   
      
   Trump Refuses to Condemn Putin Despite   
   Sean Hannity Practically Begging Him To   
   Mar 11   
      
   Donald Trump’s affection for Vladimir   
   Putin never seemed to bother   
   Republicans in Congress. It’s made   
   them a little uncomfortable, however,   
   as the Russian president continues to   
   unleash hell on Ukraine in an invasion   
   that has killed thousands and laid   
   waste to one of America’s allies.   
   Trump initially praised the invasion   
   as “genius” before reversing course   
   and calling it a “Holocaust,” although   
   he couldn’t bring himself to criticize   
   Putin.   
      
   Sean Hannity gave Trump another   
   opportunity to do so on Thursday night —   
   several, in fact — but he still couldn’t   
   do it.   
      
   “You came under some fire when you said   
   Vladimir Putin is very smart,” Hannity   
   said. “I think I know you a little bit   
   better than most people in the media,   
   and I think you also recognize he’s evil,   
   do you not?”   
      
   Trump ignored the question and said   
   that when he called Putin smart he was   
   talking about how he sent tanks into   
   separatist-backed regions of eastern   
   Ukraine. “This doesn’t seem to be the   
   same Putin I was dealing with,” Trump   
   managed. “But I will tell you he   
   wouldn’t have changed if I were dealing   
   with him. You know, I supplied … the   
   anti-tank busters. They’re called   
   javelins. Without them, you wouldn’t   
   have anything like what’s happening.   
   They’re knocking out the tanks one   
   after another after another.”   
      
   Hannity kept pressing Trump to   
   condemn Putin, positing that Trump’s   
   repeated praise of Putin was not   
   genuine, and only came out of the   
   maxim that it’s best to keep friends   
   close and enemies closer. “Is that   
   how you viewed Vladimir?” Hannity   
   asked. “Did you view Vladimir Putin   
   and people like President Xi and   
   Kim Jong-un and the Iranian mullahs   
   as enemies that you needed to keep   
   close?”   
      
   “I got along with these people,”   
   Trump replied. “I got along with   
   them well. That doesn’t mean they’re   
    good people. It doesn’t mean   
   anything other than the fact that   
   I understood them and perhaps they   
   understood me. Maybe they understood   
   me even better. That’s OK.”   
      
   Trump went on like this for a while   
   before Hannity again asked if Trump   
   “understood if they were capable of   
   evil things.”   
      
   Trump responded by blaming Biden for   
   the invasion. “Putin is for Russia,   
   and you see what happens,” he said.   
   “This is all because they didn’t   
   respect our leader.”   
      
   Trump has been trashing Biden as   
   weak since the invasion began, but   
   he’s yet to articulate how he would   
   handle the situation.   
      
   https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trump-sean-ha   
   nnity-refuses-condemn-putin-1319948/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)