Lawrence O’Donnell Slams Trump for Not Having the ‘Moral Clarity’ of Sean Hannity on Putin
On Thursday’s The Last Word, host Lawrence O’Donnell portrayed Fox News host Sean Hannity as a voice of reason on the war in Ukraine.
The liberal MSNBC host ripped former President Donald Trump for praise of Vladimir Putin, prior to Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Trump initially called aggressive moves against Ukraine “genius.” Rather than clarify or apologize, he repeated praise for Russia’s autocratic leader.
O’Donnell noted Putin has recently acknowledged sanctions from the U.S. and other countries have hurt Russia. He also said Trump diminished those sanctions as being worth “$2.”
The comments haven’t aged well. Trump is not the most eloquent speaker, so deciphering what he means from what he says is sometimes a headache.
But Trump has not clarified the comments praising Putin, nor has he issued a retraction. His strongest supporters would probably contend when he referred to Putin as genius, it was to contrast his puissance with what he sees as weakness in NATO.
No matter what Trump meant, O’Donnell had him dead to rights Thursday, after he noted the former president has declined to call Putin “evil.”
“Two weeks ago, on the night that Sean Penn appeared on this program, he also appeared on Sean Hannity’s show in a remarkable discussion between two people who disagree on everything except Ukraine and Vladimir Putin,” O’Donnell said.
The host noted on that evening, Hannity called Putin “evil,” and that Penn agreed.
“Donald Trump still cannot bring himself to say anything like that,” O’Donnell said. “Donald Trump does not have the moral clarity of Sean Penn, or Sean Hannity. When it comes to Vladimir Putin.”
O’Donnell then aired a clip of Hannity later offering Trump and opportunity to call Putin “evil.”
“You came under some fire when you said that Vladimir Putin is very smart,”Hannity said to Trump on his show March 10. “I think I know you a little bit better than most people in the media, and I think you also recognize he is evil, do you not?”
Trump dodged the question about whether he would designate Putin as evil, and took the conversation in another direction.
Watch above, via MSNBC.
