After testy VP debate, Trump rebuffs claim he 'loves' Putin

[webfact]

After testy VP debate, Trump rebuffs claim he 'loves' Putin

By JONATHAN LEMIRE and JOSH LEDERMAN

 

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Donald Trump pushed back Wednesday on Hillary Clinton's accusation that he's cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the charge put Trump's running mate on the defensive during the vice presidential debate.

 

Trump offered effusive praise for Mike Pence's performance — but also claimed credit for it — even as both campaigns acknowledged that the sole vice presidential debate was unlikely to alter the race's trajectory.

 

The celebrity businessman said his relationship with Russia's leader would be determined by how Moscow responds to strong U.S. leadership under a Trump administration.

 

"They say Donald Trump loves Putin. I don't love, I don't hate. We'll see how it works," Trump told a rally outside Las Vegas.

 

Clinton on Wednesday shrugged that off, saying Trump has "this weird fascination with dictators."

 

"My opponent seems not to know the difference between an ally and adversary," Clinton said at an evening fund raiser in Washington. "There seems to be some misunderstanding about what it means to have a dictatorship and provide leadership."

 

The billionaire candidate sought to take away an argument that Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, have ramped up in the final weeks of the campaign as they work to portray Trump as dangerous for American interests overseas. While U.S.-Russia relations nosedive over failed diplomacy in Syria, Trump has complimented Putin, calling him a strong leader and even encouraging him to track down Clinton's missing e-mails, though Trump later said he was being sarcastic.

 

"You guys love Russia," Kaine said in Tuesday's debate. "You both have said Vladimir Putin is a better leader than the president."

 

In a forceful rebuke, Pence described Putin as a "small and bullying leader," but blamed Clinton and President Barack Obama for a "weak and feckless" foreign policy that had awakened Moscow's aggression in Ukraine and meddling in the Middle East.

 

The U.S. and Russia back opposing sides in Syria's civil war but both are fighting the Islamic State group there. The U.S. cut off talks with Russia about Syria this week after the latest cease-fire collapsed, blaming Russia for failing to fulfill its commitments under the deal.

 

"I can say this: If we get along and Russia went out with us and knocked the hell out of ISIS, that's OK with me folks," Trump said, using an acronym for the extremist group.

 

Since last week's debate, Trump has faced a barrage of questions over a leaked tax return showing he lost more than $900 million in 1995. In turn, he's sought to reframe his life story as a comeback tale he hopes to recreate on behalf of a faltering nation.

 

"America needs a turnaround. American needs a comeback. America needs a change. And that's why I'm running," Trump said.

 

Taking the stage in Henderson, Nevada, Trump took his own victory lap for Pence's performance, which he called "phenomenal. Pence's cool demeanor contrasted with Trump's bluster during his own, top-of-the-ticket showdown against Clinton. However strong Pence's performance, Trump made clear he considers it a reflection of himself.

 

"I'm getting a lot of credit, because that's really my first so-called choice, that was my first hire," Trump said of Pence.

 

Even Clinton's team wasn't claiming that Kaine had come out on top. Former President Bill Clinton, for example, his wife's running mate "did just fine."

 

Kaine acknowledged that even his wife gave him a hard time for his constant interruptions during the debate. But Kaine said he was effectively able to block Pence from attacking Clinton. "I've never played hockey but I think I'd be a good goalie, based on last night," he said.

 

The big moment for their running mates behind them, both Clinton and Trump were shifting focus back to each other — and to Sunday's debate, the second of three showdowns between the nominees.

 

Clinton was deep in debate prep Wednesday at her Washington home. She was huddling with campaign chairman John Podesta, top policy aid Jake Sullivan and her debate advisers.

 

Trump, meanwhile, was on the campaign trail, making several stops across Nevada. In Reno, the New Yorker appeared to lecture Nevadans on how their state is correctly pronounced and then did an exaggerated version of his preferred pronunciation of "Neh-VAH-da," though most residents of the Silver State pronounce it, "Neh-VAD-uh." He then declared that "nobody says it the other way."

 

Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said, despite Trump's travels, the candidate was preparing "constantly" for the debate. Trump planned his own town hall in New Hampshire on Thursday, in an apparent dress rehearsal for the big event.

___

Lederman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Bill Barrow, Alan Suderman, Jill Colvin and Ken Thomas contributed to this report.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-10-06

[dunroaming]

As we all know Trump and several of his supporters on here were full of praise for Putin. Backtracking would appear to be the order of the day I would think!

[Chicog]

37 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

As we all know Trump and several of his supporters on here were full of praise for Putin. Backtracking would appear to be the order of the day I would think!

 

Is that a euphemism for "lying through his teeth"?

It seems Pence is as bad as Trump in that respect.

Politifact showed about 2/3 of what he said in the debate was lies.

[Silurian]

20 minutes ago, Chicog said:

 

Is that a euphemism for "lying through his teeth"?

It seems Pence is as bad as Trump in that respect.

Politifact showed about 2/3 of what he said in the debate was lies.

 

Maybe Pence was of the mind that two wrongs make a right or two lies make a truth.

 

Edited October 6, 2016 by Silurian

[DM07]

It is amazing!

He was working for television!

He MUST know, that the bat@#$% crazy stuff he says, will be recorded!

Recorded!

That means: able to be viewed, even months later!

Or does he think, when he says "A" and then later says "B", that "A" will automatically be erased?

If all Trump'eteers think that HRC has health issues...what about the mental- health of this manchild? 

[Linzz]

3 hours ago, DM07 said:

It is amazing!

He was working for television!

He MUST know, that the bat@#$% crazy stuff he says, will be recorded!

Recorded!

That means: able to be viewed, even months later!

Or does he think, when he says "A" and then later says "B", that "A" will automatically be erased?

If all Trump'eteers think that HRC has health issues...what about the mental- health of this manchild? 

 

Recorded. That's right, but Hillary is more clever about 'A' and 'B' and destroys any recordings and devices that could be used to prosecute her and others.

[Andaman Al]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

"I'm getting a lot of credit, because that's really my first so-called choice, that was my first hire," Trump said of Pence.

 

You gotta laugh at the neck of this guy. The strategy of Trump actually goes against everything that Pence stands for, with a comment like above I would just walk straight out the door saying 'you don't need me wonder man'.

[Linzz]

10 minutes ago, Andaman Al said:

 

You gotta laugh at the neck of this guy. The strategy of Trump actually goes against everything that Pence stands for, with a comment like above I would just walk straight out the door saying 'you don't need me wonder man'.

 

They're like oil and water. I would rather have the VP's running for Potus. Trump is a vain motormouth and Hillary is a devious manipulator

[Ulysses G.]

5 hours ago, dunroaming said:

As we all know Trump and several of his supporters on here were full of praise for Putin.

 

Saying that Putin is a stronger leader than Obama is not exactly effusive praise.

Edited October 6, 2016 by Ulysses G.

[Opl]

you are right, the effusive praise is " “I think he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] said some really nice things. He called me a genius. He said Trump’s a genius. Okay. So, you know, that’s nice.”

 

 

[Ulysses G.]

1 minute ago, Opl said:

you are right, the effusive praise is " “I think he [Russian President Vladimir Putin] said some really nice things. He called me a genius. He said Trump’s a genius. Okay. So, you know, that’s nice.”

 

 

 

That would be effusive praise of Donald Trump, not of Putin.

[Andaman Al]

1 hour ago, Linzz said:

1 hour ago, Andaman Al said:

 

You gotta laugh at the neck of this guy. The strategy of Trump actually goes against everything that Pence stands for, with a comment like above I would just walk straight out the door saying 'you don't need me wonder man'.

 

They're like oil and water. I would rather have the VP's running for Potus. Trump is a vain motormouth and Hillary is a devious manipulator

I was not discussing Clinton at anytime. You are catching surrogates disease.

[Andaman Al]

21 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

That would be effusive praise of Donald Trump, not of Putin.

Good job it's not the 60's, Trump would have been jailed forever as a commie sympathiser. His comments go against the grain of the US stance on Russia for the last 60 years. Regardless of partisan loyalties and what you think of the 'POTUS', a patriot American would rather eat worms than listen to another American praising a Russian President over their own. 

[Silurian]

12 minutes ago, Andaman Al said:

Regardless of partisan loyalties and what you think of the 'POTUS', a patriot American would rather eat worms than listen to another American praising a Russian President over their own. 

 

Well, that might be true if the current POTUS had the correct color of skin and isn't one of "those" people. Remember it is these same people that beat the "birther" movement drum along with Trump and the same people that beat the "he's a Muslim" drum as well. They don't see the Obama as a real POTUS, they see a charlatan and a fake. They are just waiting until they get "one of their own" back in power so then they can go back to being patriotic.

[JetsetBkk]

2 hours ago, Linzz said:

 

Recorded. That's right, but Hillary is more clever about 'A' and 'B' and destroys any recordings and devices that could be used to prosecute her and others.

 

Not too clever:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cepCRGy5KbA

 

[maoro2013]

Do you think Hillary will wear the earphone this time?

[DM07]

24 minutes ago, maoro2013 said:

Do you think Hillary will wear the earphone this time?

No, but Trump will get unfair questions, a defective mic and will be interrupted bigly...