Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview this week that he would prefer President Joe Biden stay in office as opposed to former President Donald Trump returning.
Is it a ploy to drive supporters away from Biden with Putin's radioactive international reputation? We don't know. But we do know that when it comes to why he would rather Biden, Putin said that the more experienced politician is “more predictable” than Trump, according to remarks provided by the Kremlin.
“Biden. He has more experience, and he is more predictable too an old-school politician,” Putin said. “That said, we will work with any leader of the United States who has the trust of the American people.”
However, even though Putin said he preferred Biden to win the next election, he still offered criticism for the White House.
“I believe that the current administration is pursuing what amounts to a harmful and erroneous policy. This is what I told President Biden back then,” Putin said.
Trump, who has been criticized for supporting Putin's international aggressions over the years, called his support of his rival a “great compliment” during a rally in South Carolina.
“He just said that he would much rather have Joe Biden as president than Trump,” Trump said. “Now that’s a compliment.… And of course, he would say that.”
Trump went on to say that Putin “wants Biden because he’s going to be given everything he wants, including Ukraine.”
The comments also came days after Trump made some eyebrow-raising comments about Putin and his actions against NATO countries.
During a rally on Saturday, Trump referred to a time when he was president and how he worked with NATO. He said that the organization was “busted” before he became president and then criticized the contributions that member nations make to the group.
“One of the presidents of a big country stood up, said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’” Trump said at a rally in South Carolina. “I said, ‘You didn’t pay, you’re delinquent. He said, ‘Yes, let’s say that happened.’ No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want.”
The White House has not commented on Putin’s reported remarks.