Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said he felt “very offended” when Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for his election rival, US Vice President Kamala Harris.
Asked during an international economic forum in Vladivostok on Thursday if he had “a favorite” in the US election, Putin said that he will follow Biden’s endorsement of Harris and “will support her as well.”
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Putin also said “Trump imposed more sanctions on Russia than any president who came before him,” and suggested that Harris “would maybe refrain from such actions.”
Speaking at a campaign rally in the city of Mosinee, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Trump slammed the White House for what he said was a false claim of Russian meddling in the election.
“Oh no, it’s Russia, Russia, Russia all over again,” Trump said, insisting that the conflict in Ukraine would never have happened if he was president at the time.
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“I knew Putin. I knew him well. And you know, he endorsed – I don’t know if you saw the other day – he endorsed Kamala,” Trump continued. “I was very offended by that. I wonder why he endorsed Kamala.” He described Putin as “a chess player” and said he was wondering if he had spoken about Harris “with a smile.”
Some American news organizations, including CNN, have suggested that the Russian leader was “simply trolling” Harris. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, declined to clarify what the president meant, saying that US domestic politics was not a priority issue for the Kremlin.
Harris herself has not commented on the matter, while the White House has said Putin “shouldn’t be favoring” any candidate.
During his reelection campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that he would promptly arrange new peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev and resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict “in 24 hours.” The Kremlin has remained skeptical, however, with Peskov saying recently that Trump had “no magic wand” and that the US should first stop sending weapons to Ukraine.