President Trump’s voters are disrespected by the US political establishment that’s constantly blocking the president’s agenda, said Russian President Vladimir Putin who also blamed the “Russian collusion” narrative on Hillary Clinton.
“In the US, there’s an unprecedented anti-Russian campaign being waged by the outgoing Obama administration [and holdovers] that’s not over,” he said during a Valdai Club discussion on Thursday. “…This campaign hasn’t been provoked by anything except the someone who lost the election to Mr. Trump and blamed Russia for this.”
“This unfolded into the anti-Russian hysteria.”
Interestingly, Putin spoke about Bill Browder, an American-British financier who was tried in absentia in Russia for tax fraud in 2013 and later told the US Senate Judiciary Committee that Donald Trump Jr. met with a “Russian agent” during the presidential campaign.
“For 10 years he lived in the Russian Federation as a ‘tourist,’ and yet he bought shares of Russian companies without having the right to do so because he wasn’t a resident of the Russian Federation,” he stated. “…The company Mr. Browder had relations with was sponsoring the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, but [the latter] with less volume.”
“The last transfer they had – according to open data – was $1.2 million dollars to the Democratic Party.”
Putin also said the Russian Federation made an extradition request to the US for Browder over tax evasion, but it was ignored because Browder was being used to “instigate Russian hysteria.”
And the Russian president believes Trump’s supporters deserve more respect.
“Mr. Trump was elected by the American people and this is why we have to pay respect toward him even if we don’t agree with some of his positions or views,” he continued. “Inside the US, he’s not been respected, which is a negative component of American political system.”
“We can argue but we have to pay respect, not to him personally but towards the people who voted for him.”
In answering another question from a journalist, Putin pointed out that Trump’s incalculable personality is how he reacts to his enemies.
“Trump is unpredictable because inside of the US, he’s unable to implement any of his plans, for example in healthcare there’s a great resistance and he also made a decision about migrants and then the court blocks his decision,” he added. “This happens all the time.”
“So we can’t say he’s unpredictable only because of himself, but because of the American political system.”
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