Former prime minister describes Trump’s ‘creepy’ awe of Putin

Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned against Donald Trump’s return to the White House, saying Trump’s “subjugation” of Vladimir Putin directly threatens Australia’s security.

“When you see Trump with Putin, as I have on occasion, it’s like the 12-year-old boy who goes to high school and meets the captain of the football team. ‘My hero!’ He’s really disturbing,” Turnbull told Australia’s ABC News program Q+A.

#BloodA: Has democracy in Ukraine been threatened by the delay of presidential elections due to the war? pic.twitter.com/SqEg8lE4uw

— ABC News (@abcnews) February 26, 2024

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He noted that the Republican Party is very sympathetic to Putin.

The Republican Party under Donald Trump, and especially the right wing of the Republican Party, is very sympathetic to Vladimir Putin.

The former prime minister, who was in office during Trump’s time as president of the United States (2015 to 2018), called Trump a “terrifying” threat to the democratic order, highlighting Trump’s “disturbing” adherence to autocrats like Vladimir Putin.

“I’ve been with Trump and Putin. Trump is in awe of Putin. When you see Trump with Putin, as I have on occasion, he’s like a 12-year-old boy going to high school and meeting the captain of the football team.”

“‘My hero.’ He’s really creepy, he’s really creepy… he affected everyone. You could touch him. The creepiness was palpable.”

Turnball mentioned Tucker Carlson’s faux fawning interview with Putin and later pointed out Trump’s attraction to dictators and tyrants like Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping.

“We will find ourselves dealing not only with two autocracies in Russia and China, but what will Trump’s America be like?”

Trump’s awe of Putin is a direct threat to Australia’s national security if he returns to the White House, Turnball has warned.

“This is a guy leading a party that is no longer committed to democracy as we understand it.”

The host asked if he thinks America is sliding toward an autocracy.

“If by democracy you mean a country governed by the rule of law, yes, of course,” Raponzo responded. “Donald Trump doesn’t believe the law applies to him. Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and refused to accept it and saw the mob, encouraging them to overturn the constitutional process in Congress. He tried to overthrow his own Constitution.

“Tyrants are often popular…. If you get to the point where whoever can get the majority is given absolute power and can do whatever he wants to the minority, that’s not a democracy. This is tyranny. This is an autocracy, even if it enjoys the support of 51% of the population.”

“A democracy as we understand it is one in which the rule of law protects all citizens and the rule of law applies to all citizens, be they the president, the prime minister or an ordinary voter.”

Trump’s adoration of Putin is a global humiliation for the United States of America, and a humiliation that, if encouraged to return to office, will surely destroy the “free” part of the American experiment.

Trump’s awe of Putin is clear to global leaders around the world and is the opposite of “making America great again.” Trump continues to weaken the United States on the global stage and here at home.

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