Donald Trump’s bromance with Vladimir Putin

In addition to his shady past in the KGB, Putin has ruled his country with an iron fist, with multiple Republican foes of Trump deriding Putin as a “gangster” and a “bully”.

On Thursday, Putin described Trump as “a very outstanding man, unquestionably talented”.

Trump’s statements come just days after a separate talkshow host asked how he felt about Putin, who “kills journalists and political opponents and invades countries”.

Putin said he was unsure whether to keep a permanent base in Syria, because Russia’s new sea- and air-launched cruise missiles used recently in the country have given Moscow enough punch to strike from afar. “And I don’t think you’d be having the kind of problems that you’re having right now”. “There’s a lot of stupidity going on in the world right now, Joe”. A lot of killing going on and a lot of stupidity. He then asked for a different question. I think he’s up in the 80s which is, you know, you see where Obama’s in the 30s and low 40s, and he’s up in the 80s.

“Important distinction: thug Putin kills journalists and opponents; our presidents kill terrorists and enemy combatants”, Romney tweeted.

Which made it, apparently, very hard for Trump to say anything negative about his new BFF Friday morning when he called into “Morning Joe”.

In a bold and visionary move characteristic of everything he does, today terrific billionaire Donald Trump named Russian President Vladimir Putin as his running mate in the 2016 US presidential campaign.

And, of course, it’s nothing short of stunning to wave away the politically motivated murder of members of the media using some random false equivalency. We are told by foreign policy hawks that Putin is playing three-dimensional chess to Obama’s checkers with a combination of stress and admiration.

The Russian leader said he had previously agreed to accommodate Turkey’s concerns regarding Syria, adding that the Turkish leadership had never asked Russia to refrain from striking that specific area. “I think other countries have to get involved with that, Joe”, he said.

“Oh, sure, absolutely”, Trump replied.

Many of Putin’s comments circled back to relations with the United States, including a bit of look-ahead musing on the White House race. “In general, we agree with it. I think the Syrian authorities will also agree with it when they look through the draft”.