House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Wednesday rejected former President Donald Trump’s characterization of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine as “savvy.”
“I do not think anything’s savvy or genius about Putin,” McCarthy told reporters at his weekly news conference when asked about Trump’s remarks. “I think Putin is evil. He’s a dictator. And I think he’s murdering people right now.”
During an interview on a right-wing talk radio program last month, Trump lauded Putin’s strategy for invading the country.
“I said, ‘This is genius,’” Trump said as he recalled watching the news after Putin declared two sections of Ukraine to be independent and ordered troops to storm the regions for alleged “peacekeeping” purposes.
“So, Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent, a large section of Ukraine.’ I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force,” Trump said.
“We could use that on our southern border,” he added. “That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re going to keep peace all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy.”