When candidate Trump praised Putin on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough reminded him, “Well, also, this is a person that kills journalists, political opponents.” Trump replied, “He’s running his country and at least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country.” Scarborough tried a second time. “But again,” he said, “he kills journalists that don’t agree with him.” Trump deflected, making the astonishing claim that the United States was just as vicious: “Well, I think our country does plenty of killing also, Joe.”
