Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Tuesday that Donald Trump has a “strange admiration” for dictators, and went so far as to assert that a Trump victory in November would be a “gift” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Albright said at the Democratic National Convention that she thought Trump had already “done damage” to the world’s view of the United States by alienating Muslim partners and threatening to “walk away” from America’s allies.
“Donald Trump also has a strange admiration for dictators—Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong-un, Vladimir Putin,” she said.
She noted that Trump once complimented Putin and said in terms of his leadership, “he’s getting an A.”
“The truth is that a Trump victory in November would be a gift to Vladimir Putin and given what we have learned about the Russians’ recent actions, Putin is eager to see Trump win,” Albright said.
The FBI was investigating a hack of the Democratic National Committee’s network, which security experts contracted by the DNC attributed to Russian state actors. In some hacked DNC emails, posted online by Wikileaks, party officials discussed undermining Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) presidential campaign.
Albright told the convention audience to “take it from someone who fled the Iron Curtain.”
“I know what happens when you give the Russians a green light,” she said. “Trump’s dark vision of America, one that’s isolated in the world, alienated from our allies, would be a disaster.”
