Last week, Donald Trump was delighted to learn [7] that Russian President Vladimir Putin is apparently a fan.
Speaking to reporters after his annual press conference, Putin called trump “a talented man” before saying he’s the “absolute leader” of the US presidential race. Here’s the clip:
Now obviously, saying Trump is “an absolute leader in the presidential race” is something far different from saying he is an “absolute leader” (one is comment on the polls while the other is a character assessment), the brazen GOP frontrunner didn’t let the PR opportunity go to waste. He promptly called Putin’s apparent praise “a great honor” and told a crowd of supporters over the weekend that it’s not “such a bad thing” that the Russian leader is fond of an American politician.
Subsequently, Trump defended Putin's record when it comes to "disappearing" journalists. “As far as the reporters are concerned, obviously I don’t want that to happen, I think it’s horrible,” Trump told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “But, in all fairness to Putin, you’re saying he killed people, I haven’t seen that. I don’t know that he has. Have you been able to prove that?"
Actually, he is right, although it's safe to say that Russia's record is less than exemplary when it comes to press freedom...
... just like the US has a tendency to "reward" journalists for promoting the party line.
At the end, when it comes to propaganda it is all about a simple choice: carrots or sticks.
That said, for any journalists who plan to stay alive even if Trump somehow manages to take the White House next year, the billionaire apparently doesn't plan to kill any members of the press.
"These people, I hate some of these people," he said, pointing to the press row at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan before assuring the crowd that "I would never kill them."
"I would never kill them. But some of them are such lying, disgusting people," he continues.
At this, the crowd erupted in cheers.
And speaking of "disgusting," Trump didn't like Hillary Clinton's bathroom break during the third Democratic debate. “I know where she went. It’s disgusting. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s disgusting," he said, commenting on the former First Lady's late return from a commercial break. “She was favored to win and she got schlonged,” he added, mocking Clinton for losing the primary to Obama in 2008. “She lost. I mean, she lost," he added, in case anyone wasn't familiar with what it means to be "schlonged."
There are plenty of Americans worried about losing their Second Amendment rights to Obama. Should those same voters worry about losing their First Amendment rights under Trump?
Or does Trump merely relish trolling the liberal media at its own game? You decide.
