Donald Trump Jr. this week offered his father an out when it came to the elder Trump’s increasingly unseemly recent and past praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin: His dad was just “playing” Putin! Fair enough. So the jig is up. Now, with Putin invading Ukraine and becoming a pariah on the world stage, would seem to be the time for Donald Trump Sr. to say what he really thinks. Putin, after all, now knows it was just a ruse all along.
The former president apparently didn’t get the memo.
During a lengthy interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity on Thursday night, Hannity played a role he has become exceedingly familiar with: Trying to coach Trump through saying the right thing. In this case, the thing was that Putin is “evil” or an “enemy.” Ninety percent of Americans, after all, dislike Putin in a new poll — and 86 percent view him “very unfavorably.” So it’s kind of a slam-dunk, politically. And it would sure help Trump’s fellow Republicans, who have strained to assure they view Putin as evil, even if Trump hasn’t.
But Trump, true to form, wouldn’t take the hint. Repeatedly, Hannity tried to elicit Trump into calling Putin evil or something amounting to it. And repeatedly, Trump declined, instead focusing on tangential issues. When he did lament the atrocious scenes in Ukraine, he talked about it merely as something “sad” or regrettable that was happening, rather than attaching it to Putin.
“You see what is going on with Vladimir Putin,” Hannity began. “He invaded a sovereign country. You see that a maternity hospital was hit yesterday. You see that entire neighborhoods have been leveled. We showed some images. There was a mass grave of about 70 people. We have seen dead bodies of men, women and children in the streets of Ukraine. Your reaction to what you’re seeing?”
In response, Trump called the situation “sad.” But rather than addressing “what’s going on with Vladimir Putin,” Trump instead re-upped his claim that this wouldn’t have happened on his watch. He also suggested the invasion was a function of weak American leadership.
Trump’s only mention of Putin: “And I know him well, and this was not something that was going to happen at all.”
Hannity, having not gotten the answer he hoped for with his broad question, tried to drill down. He even, in the course of his question, tried to exclude Trump’s stock response that this wouldn’t have happened under Trump.
“I’m going to get back to the issue of why Putin wouldn’t do it if you were president,” Hannity said, helpfully. “You came under some fire when you said that Vladimir Putin is very smart. I think I know you a little bit better than most people in the media, and I think you also recognize he’s evil, do you not?”
Trump did not answer the question directly. When he did speak of Putin, he suggested that somehow this was out-of-character from the guy he knew.
“This doesn’t seem to be the same Putin that I was dealing with,” Trump said. “But I will tell you, he wouldn’t have changed if I were dealing with him, he wouldn’t have changed.”
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One could infer that Trump meant Putin has taken a turn for the worse — maybe even the really bad or evil — but it wasn’t stated in the kind of sound bite Hannity sought. And Trump even seemed to be saying ... maybe Putin wasn’t that bad before?
Strike two.
Hannity, though, was undeterred. Having not gotten Trump to say “evil,” he tried instead for “enemy.” He suggested that maybe Trump was, as his son suggested and Sun Tzu wrote, keeping his friends close and his enemies closer.
“Did you view Vladimir Putin and people like President Xi [Jinping] and Kim Jong Un and the Iranian mullahs as enemies that you needed to keep close?”
Rather than saying whether he considered Putin or the others “enemies,” though, Trump said: “I got along with these people. I got along with them well. That doesn’t mean they are good people. It doesn’t mean anything other than the fact that I understood them and perhaps they understood me.”
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Hannity then tried again. He wanted to know whether Trump at least viewed leaders like Putin as being “capable of evil things.”
But Trump instead focused on another part of Hannity’s question, saying, “Putin is for Russia. And you see what happened. And that’s all because they didn’t respect our leader.”
By this point, it was impossible to believe Trump didn’t understand what Hannity was trying to get him to do. Hannity asked Trump whether Putin was “evil,” an “enemy” and finally merely just “capable of evil things.” Trump affirmed none of them.
As the interview wore on, Trump did talk about the horrors of what’s transpiring in Ukraine. But just as in that sentence, he talked about them as if they were simply things that were happening — not things done by anyone or any leader in particular. When he did talk about what Putin was doing, it was about how Putin might do “very bad things” in the future.
He ultimately called the whole thing a “crime against humanity” — seemingly committed by, well, someone.
“So, something has to happen, Sean,” Trump said. “This can’t continue. This is a crime. And it truly is a crime against humanity. This is something that has to end, and it has to end soon.
“The problem with Putin: He’s got a very big ego. And if he ends now, in most forms, if he ends now, it’s going to look like a big loss for him, even if he takes a little extra territory.”
This is all 100 percent in keeping with how Trump has long talked about Putin. It’s praising Putin as a strong leader, without talking about how Putin has abused his power. It’s comparing Putin’s human rights violations to our own. It’s almost always talking about these things in strategic or pragmatic terms, and almost never layering that with any moral judgments or an assignment of personal culpability.
But if there was a time in which that approach was to be shed — to give up on attempts to suggest Putin is misunderstood or merely looking out for his own interests and is some kind of legitimate actor on the world stage — this would surely be it. Even if Trump doesn’t believe it, it’s the obvious political play. When House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Sean Hannity are so obviously trying to push you in this direction, that would seem to send a message. When the few allies who actually venture to defend your comments about Putin’s strategic acumen are themselves emphasizing the caveat that Putin “evil,” perhaps that tells you something?
Message not received.
The former president apparently didn’t get the memo.
During a lengthy interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity on Thursday night, Hannity played a role he has become exceedingly familiar with: Trying to coach Trump through saying the right thing. In this case, the thing was that Putin is “evil” or an “enemy.” Ninety percent of Americans, after all, dislike Putin in a new poll — and 86 percent view him “very unfavorably.” So it’s kind of a slam-dunk, politically. And it would sure help Trump’s fellow Republicans, who have strained to assure they view Putin as evil, even if Trump hasn’t.
But Trump, true to form, wouldn’t take the hint. Repeatedly, Hannity tried to elicit Trump into calling Putin evil or something amounting to it. And repeatedly, Trump declined, instead focusing on tangential issues. When he did lament the atrocious scenes in Ukraine, he talked about it merely as something “sad” or regrettable that was happening, rather than attaching it to Putin.
“You see what is going on with Vladimir Putin,” Hannity began. “He invaded a sovereign country. You see that a maternity hospital was hit yesterday. You see that entire neighborhoods have been leveled. We showed some images. There was a mass grave of about 70 people. We have seen dead bodies of men, women and children in the streets of Ukraine. Your reaction to what you’re seeing?”
In response, Trump called the situation “sad.” But rather than addressing “what’s going on with Vladimir Putin,” Trump instead re-upped his claim that this wouldn’t have happened on his watch. He also suggested the invasion was a function of weak American leadership.
Trump’s only mention of Putin: “And I know him well, and this was not something that was going to happen at all.”
Hannity, having not gotten the answer he hoped for with his broad question, tried to drill down. He even, in the course of his question, tried to exclude Trump’s stock response that this wouldn’t have happened under Trump.
“I’m going to get back to the issue of why Putin wouldn’t do it if you were president,” Hannity said, helpfully. “You came under some fire when you said that Vladimir Putin is very smart. I think I know you a little bit better than most people in the media, and I think you also recognize he’s evil, do you not?”
Trump did not answer the question directly. When he did speak of Putin, he suggested that somehow this was out-of-character from the guy he knew.
“This doesn’t seem to be the same Putin that I was dealing with,” Trump said. “But I will tell you, he wouldn’t have changed if I were dealing with him, he wouldn’t have changed.”
ADVERTISING
One could infer that Trump meant Putin has taken a turn for the worse — maybe even the really bad or evil — but it wasn’t stated in the kind of sound bite Hannity sought. And Trump even seemed to be saying ... maybe Putin wasn’t that bad before?
Strike two.
Hannity, though, was undeterred. Having not gotten Trump to say “evil,” he tried instead for “enemy.” He suggested that maybe Trump was, as his son suggested and Sun Tzu wrote, keeping his friends close and his enemies closer.
“Did you view Vladimir Putin and people like President Xi [Jinping] and Kim Jong Un and the Iranian mullahs as enemies that you needed to keep close?”
Rather than saying whether he considered Putin or the others “enemies,” though, Trump said: “I got along with these people. I got along with them well. That doesn’t mean they are good people. It doesn’t mean anything other than the fact that I understood them and perhaps they understood me.”
Connecting with your partner is beyond physical, it's intimate and unique. Feel Together with K-Y.
Advertisement by K-Y
Feel Together with K-Y.
Learn more
Hannity then tried again. He wanted to know whether Trump at least viewed leaders like Putin as being “capable of evil things.”
But Trump instead focused on another part of Hannity’s question, saying, “Putin is for Russia. And you see what happened. And that’s all because they didn’t respect our leader.”
By this point, it was impossible to believe Trump didn’t understand what Hannity was trying to get him to do. Hannity asked Trump whether Putin was “evil,” an “enemy” and finally merely just “capable of evil things.” Trump affirmed none of them.
As the interview wore on, Trump did talk about the horrors of what’s transpiring in Ukraine. But just as in that sentence, he talked about them as if they were simply things that were happening — not things done by anyone or any leader in particular. When he did talk about what Putin was doing, it was about how Putin might do “very bad things” in the future.
He ultimately called the whole thing a “crime against humanity” — seemingly committed by, well, someone.
“So, something has to happen, Sean,” Trump said. “This can’t continue. This is a crime. And it truly is a crime against humanity. This is something that has to end, and it has to end soon.
“The problem with Putin: He’s got a very big ego. And if he ends now, in most forms, if he ends now, it’s going to look like a big loss for him, even if he takes a little extra territory.”
This is all 100 percent in keeping with how Trump has long talked about Putin. It’s praising Putin as a strong leader, without talking about how Putin has abused his power. It’s comparing Putin’s human rights violations to our own. It’s almost always talking about these things in strategic or pragmatic terms, and almost never layering that with any moral judgments or an assignment of personal culpability.
But if there was a time in which that approach was to be shed — to give up on attempts to suggest Putin is misunderstood or merely looking out for his own interests and is some kind of legitimate actor on the world stage — this would surely be it. Even if Trump doesn’t believe it, it’s the obvious political play. When House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Sean Hannity are so obviously trying to push you in this direction, that would seem to send a message. When the few allies who actually venture to defend your comments about Putin’s strategic acumen are themselves emphasizing the caveat that Putin “evil,” perhaps that tells you something?
Message not received.
