Donald Trump on Sunday defended Russian president Vladimir Putin’s record on press freedom, challenging journalists to provide him with evidence that the Kremlin has ever sponsored efforts to murder reporters.
The Republican frontrunner also vowed again to work closely with Russia, if elected president. Trump was praised this week by Putin, who described the billionaire businessman as a “very colourful, talented person”.
Putin’s words fuelled attacks by Trump’s rivals for the Republican nomination. But Trump, whose lead in the polls has grown after a series of inflammatory Islamophobic slurs, called the Russian president’s remarks a “great honour” and described Putin as “a man highly respected within his own country and beyond”.
Trump was called out on the platitudes during an interview with MSNBC on Friday. Asked to condemn the Kremlin’s alleged involvement in the assassination of reporters, he responded: “Our country does plenty of killing also.”
In a heated interview on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Trump said: “In all fairness to Putin, you’re saying he killed people. I haven’t seen that. I don’t know that he has.” According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 36 journalists have been murdered since 1993, often in direct retaliation for their work. In only four cases was anyone convicted.
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