Former President Donald Trump faced condemnation on social media for saying he was the apple of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s eye.
Trump touted his relationship with Putin during an interview on Fox Business on Thursday. The former president has been sharply critical of President Joe Biden’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine war, launched by Putin in February 2022, saying that the war would never have happened if he were president, and that he would have ended the conflict within 24 hours, though experts have cast doubt on this assertion. During his interview, he told Fox host Larry Kudlow that his personality would have prevented the Russian leader from entering Ukraine.
“Putin would have never gone into Ukraine, but that was just on my relationship with him. My personality over his. [He] would have never gone in. I used to speak to him. I was the apple of his eye, but I said ‘Don’t ever do it.’ It was tough stuff there, but he would have never done it,” the former president, who has held a steady lead over his other 2024 GOP rivals ahead of the Republican primary election, said.
Trump’s comment drew scrutiny from his critics, many of whom have accused him of being too friendly with leaders like Putin during his presidential tenure while alienating more traditional allies. His critics took to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to voice their opinions about Trump’s remarks.
Then-President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin speak on November 11, 2017. Trump faced condemnation on social media for saying he was the apple of Putin’s eye.
MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign for comment via email.
“Imagine, just imagine, if Barack Obama in any of his 8 years in office had proudly and publicly referred to himself as ‘the apple of [Putin’s] eye”. The right would have had an immediate and nonstop meltdown. Fox would have demanded impeachment and indictment 24/7,” MSNBC host Medhi Hasan posted on Friday.
Imagine, just imagine, if Barack Obama in any of his 8 years in office had proudly and publicly referred to himself as ‘the apple of [Putin’s] eye”. The right would have had an immediate and nonstop meltdown. Fox would have demanded impeachment and indictment 24/7. https://t.co/B15PKG0Yd4
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 19, 2023
