Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Tuesday night that there is “no moral equivalence” between the United States and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian regime.
“There is no moral equivalence between that butcher and thug and KGB colonel and the United States of America,” McCain said from the Senate floor. “To allege some kind of moral equivalence between the two is either terribly misinformed or incredibly biased. Neither, neither can be accurate in any way.”
Today I offer my most heartfelt prayers for Vladimir Kara-Murza’s recovery & success of his fight for truth & justice for the Russian ppl pic.twitter.com/WykT9BFwYw
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 7, 2017
President Donald Trump said in an interview Sunday that he wants to “get along with Russia” and dismissed concerns about Putin’s regime by saying that the United States is not “so innocent.”
“I do respect him,” Trump said of Putin. “He’s a leader of his country.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Sunday morning that he did not see “any equivalency” between Russia and the United States.
“Putin’s a former KGB agent, he’s a thug, he was not elected in a way that most people would consider a credible election,” he said.
Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday that Trump did not compare the two countries “in the least.”
“I don’t accept that it’s a moral equivalency,” he said. “I really don’t.”
On Monday evening, Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) said that Putin “is not a friend of the United States.”
“Putin is a thug and he runs a gas station,” she said. “I am hopeful that President Trump will have very firm, very harsh, if need be, conversations with Putin.”
