Fox Analyst Says He’d ‘Love to Ask’ Trump Why He’s Making Pro-Putin Statements
Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto asked former CIA Moscow station chief and Fox contributor Dan Hoffman to weigh in on Donald Trump’s pro-Putin rhetoric of late.
Cavuto began the Monday segment by playing a clip of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) urging President Joe Biden to take more aggressive actions against Russia, including designating it a state sponsor of terrorism.
Cavuto then played a supercut of Trump’s recent comments, including Trump telling a rally he would “encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies not meeting spending the required 2% of their GDP on national defense.
“All right, so what to make of this?” Cavuto asked Hoffman after the supercut.
“Well, the first thing I would emphasize is that I applaud Senator Graham for his very true comments about Vladimir Putin being an assassin and responsible for Alexei Navalny’s murder,” Hoffman replied, adding:
But Vladimir Putin doesn’t fear the U.S. court system. In fact, I think that Navalny’s murder has everything to do with the upcoming elections in Russia. And Putin wants his own people to understand that if they betray him, they will suffer the same fate, the same consequences as Navalny.
After some further analysis of Russia’s domestic situation, Cavuto asked, “The fact of the matter is a lot of Republicans are leery of speaking out too aggressively against what’s going on there, because they know that Donald Trump is not. What do you think?”
“I grew up when President Reagan was calling out the Soviet Union for the evil empire that it was. And in those days, the Republicans kind of owned the national security space. Remember the 1984 and 1980 elections? And not to mention the 1988 election. And, I think it’s good politics to emphasize the difference between the United States and everything that’s enshrined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights – liberty, freedom, and democracy – none of which exists in Russia,” Hoffman replied, adding:
Not freedom, not liberty, not freedom of assembly. Vladimir Putin’s big enemy is democracy. That’s why he refers to the United States as Russia’s main enemy. And I think a smart politician would take up that fight and lead our country, as we should be led, to counter and defend, and deter Vladimir Putin’s KGB Russia.
“But again, if that message isn’t coming from the guy who could be the standard bearer for Republicans as the next president. Does that worry you? We don’t have much time. I’m just curious, from your vantage point, does it worry you?” Cavuto pressed.
“Yeah, it concerns me. I’d love to ask him, why? Because it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Now, maybe you think I’m biased. I spent many days in Russia,” Hoffman replied, noting how his time in Russia left him with a deep understanding of Putin’s brutality.
“I spent many days in Russia. It did not take long to remove whatever scales from my eyes about what makes Vladimir Putin tick. I think President Trump should be held accountable for those words,” Hoffman concluded.
Watch the clip above.
