Former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Republicans had to “disabuse themselves of this strange affection for Vladimir Putin.”
McMaster said, “This is what I can’t understand, Margaret. There are some people in the Republican Party these days who kind of tend to parrot Putin’s talking points.”
Host Margaret Brennan asked, “Why?”
McMaster said, “I don’t if it’s because they’re draw to him and see him as a defender of Western Civilization, the shirtless guy on horseback but they’ve got to disabuse themselves of this strange affection for Vladimir Putin. You know, who is not going to stop in his efforts to restore Russia to national greatness at our expense. That’s what he’s obsessed with. He’s obsessed with re-establish the Russian empire. So he has aspirations that go far beyond anything that’s in reaction to what we do.”
He added, “The only thing that stops him really is strength, Margaret.”
Brennan said, “And you wrote in your book that you didn’t understand Donald Trump’s fascination with Vladimir Putin. Quickly, Sebastian Gorka is going to be the Senior Director for Counterterrorism, deputy assistant to the president. Is he a good person to advise on security?”
McMaster said, “No, no, he’s not, Margaret. But I think that the and others will determine that quickly soon after he gets into that job.”
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