The former US president praised the “intelligent” Vladimir Putin and criticized Western leaders “so stupid” in his eyes, Saturday evening, at the major annual convention of American conservatives, in Orlando (Florida) .
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NATO, he said, “looks anything but smart” in slapping Russia with sanctions instead of deciding to “rip it apart – at least psychologically”.
“The problem is not that Putin is smart, because of course he is smart,” he continued. “The real problem is that our leaders are so dumb,” he said, blaming Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the “weakness” of his successor, Joe Biden.
He called Volodymyr Zelensky a “brave man”, while claiming the untruth that the Ukrainian president had exonerated him from the scandal that led to his first impeachment trial.
“As everyone understands, this horrible disaster would never have happened if our election had not been rigged”, also launched the ex-president during his 86-minute speech, taking up one of his favorite antiphons, but without bringing any proof.
The 75-year-old Republican billionaire drew the most applause when he called it “bullshit” the Democrats presenting themselves as the party of democracy and when he said that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, “came to the White House and licked my ass”.
He hinted at a possible bid in 2024, such as when he said, ‘We’ve done it twice and we’ll do it again’, presenting his 2020 defeat as a victory – but he left the public in uncertainty about his willingness to personally challenge Joe Biden for the next presidential term.