Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) repeatedly refused to condemn Donald Trump on Sunday after the former president praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as “savvy” and a “genius” for invading and attacking Ukraine.
Speaking to George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week,” Cotton said that he has always seen Putin as a “ruthless dictator who wants to reassemble the greater Russian empire,” as opposed to others who may have viewed the leader as someone willing to operate according to global norms.
“You’ve never made that mistake, it is true. You’ve been stalwart in your opposition of Vladimir Putin,” Stephanopoulos said. “The same cannot be said for the leader of your party, Donald Trump.”
Earlier this week, Trump praised Putin as “savvy,” “smart” and a “genius” for invading Ukraine and suffering only “two dollars worth of sanctions.” On Saturday night, he continued attacking the U.S. and NATO leaders by calling them “not so smart.”
Trump — who remains the most influential member of the Republican Party even after leaving office — finally condemned the invasion on Saturday night, claiming that Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he were still president.
The former president, however, spent years advancing policies that matched Putin’s goals, and praised the Russian leader for at least a decade before running for president as he tried to build a condominium tower in Moscow. Trump dismissed the U.S. intelligence community’s warnings about Russian meddling during the 2020 election, and urged Russia to hack presidential rival Hillary Clinton’s emails in 2016.
As president, Trump was impeached for withholding nearly $400 million in important military aid to Ukraine in an attempt to extort the country for political gain.
On Sunday, Cotton attempted to dodge Stephanopoulos’ question about condemning Trump’s rhetoric about Putin and the invasion.
“George, you heard what I had to say about Vladimir Putin: that he is a ruthless dictator who’s launched a naked, unprovoked war of aggression,” Cotton said. “Thankfully, the Ukrainian army has anti-tank missiles that President [Barack] Obama would not supply, that we did supply last time Republicans were in charge in Washington.”
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