Trump on Putin: There’s no proof ‘he’s killed reporters’

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump defended Vladimir Putin over the weekend, discounting allegations that the Russian president has been linked to the killing of journalists.

Trump: “Well, Joe, I don’t have any independent knowledge of Putin actually killing journalists, do you?” Have you been able to prove that?

Trump conceded that if the allegations were true, he would “think that that’s awful”, but added, “this isn’t like somebody that stood with the gun and taken the blame or admitted that he’s killed. It has not been proven that he’s killed reporters”. I haven’t seen it. If he did, I think it’s despicable.

Donald Trump has a problem, perhaps best defined as a tendency to wrap worthy observations in outlandish language, thus undermining his rhetorical force and subjecting him to severe criticism.

The mutual respect between the two larger-than-life figures prompted a satirical campaign ad from Ohio Governor John Kasich, who is also in the running for the Republican nomination in the upcoming presidential elections.

Putin praised Trump during his annual press conference last week, saying that the former reality show star is “outstanding”, “talented”, and the “absolute front-runner” in the presidential race.

“We have such incompetent leadership that we’re going all over the place”, Trump said during a WABC interview.

Trump made the media rounds Sunday, also appearing on Fox News and repeating that “it’s really good if we get along with other countries knowing that we want to do well against them”.

Mitt Romney jumped on that comment, tweeting that there’s an important distinction between a “thug” like Putin killing journalists and a U.S. President killing terrorists and enemy combatants. “But I have never seen any information or any proof that he killed reporters”.

“We are seeing the secret services of a certain number of countries intensifying… their work in Russian Federation”, he added.

“I’m not saying anything”, Trump responded”.

“I think I would just get along very well with Vladimir Putin”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes documents during a Security Council meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 18, 2015. Ever since the exchange between Putin and Trump began, many commentators have noted that Trump’s reaction has been most unusual given that most of the other Republican candidates- and Republican Party members in general- prefer to maintain a distance from and a conservative view on the Russian president and the Kremlin.

Trump mentioned Putin twice during his 75-minute rally on Saturday: first within minutes of taking the stage, then again about 30 minutes into his remarks as he warned the crowd of the country’s ballooning debt.