Rep. Sean Duffy said Thursday that he’d take the U.S. president over any Russian leader “any day of the week,” hours after GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump lavished praise on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s leadership in contrast to that of President Obama.
“I’m not comparing the two of them. We have two different systems,” Mr. Duffy, a Trump supporter, said on CNN’s “New Day.” “We’re a democracy. We elected Barack Obama, and that system and our leaders in that system are far better than the Russian model.”
“I think our system and our leadership is better,” said Mr. Duffy, Wisconsin Republican. “But also, Hillary Clinton hit a reset button with Russia - absolutely failed. People misjudge situations all the time.”
“But no - I look at this, I go our system’s better,” he said. “I’ll take our president over any kind of Russian leader any day of the week.”
At a forum Wednesday hosted by NBC and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Mr. Trump praised Mr. Putin’s leadership, while also noting the different political system.
“The man has very strong control over a country,” Mr. Trump said. “Now, it’s a very different system, and I don’t happen to like the system, but certainly, in that system he’s been a leader - far more than our president has been a leader.”
“If he says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him,” Mr. Trump said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.