Some GOP lawmakers: Trump has a point on Putin

Several Republican lawmakers say they hear a kernel of truth in Donald Trump’s claim that Russia’s Vladimir Putin is a stronger leader than President Obama.

“Vladimir Putin has proceeded to wipe the floor with Barack Obama all over the world map,” Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) told BuzzFeed on Thursday.

{mosads}“Putin has pretty much had his way with Obama,” Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) said the same day. “We’ve lost 40 years of influence in the Middle East in the eight years that Obama’s been president. Putin has filled that void, so in that regard, he’s been more effective than Obama. He’s literally replaced us.”

“He’s been a more assertive and aggressive leader perhaps than our president,” Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) said Thursday.

Trump on late Wednesday suggested Putin has been a leader “far more than our president has been a leader.”

“If [Putin] says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him,” he said during a forum for active service members and military veterans. “I’ve already said he is really very much of a leader.”

Franks and Palmer have previously endorsed Trump, while Dent has not publicly backed the GOP’s presidential nominee.

BuzzFeed said all three Republicans consider Putin a formidable adversary to the U.S. despite their criticism of Obama.

Franks, for example, called Putin a “thug,” arguing he has advanced socialism more aggressively than Obama has defended democracy.

Dent, meanwhile, said Putin is a dangerous figure who has fiercely pursued Russian interests at a time some Americans feel their nation is retreating from global events.

Trump’s remarks have drawn backlash from some Republicans who consider Putin a chief antagonist menacing the U.S., however.

“Vladimir Putin’s no friend of ours,” Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) told BuzzFeed Thursday. “Putin is a bad man.”

“Barack Obama is a bad manager,” added Williams, who supports Trump. “Neither one of them we can count on.”

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), meanwhile, earlier Thursday pushed back against Trump’s recurring praise for Putin and Russia.

“The idea that Russia is somehow a friend of ours, or that Putin is a friend, is a false narrative,” the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said at an event hosted by The Atlantic. “They’re not our friends.”