Reuters - U.S. Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump backed off from praising Vladimir Putin on
Wednesday, saying he was unsure of his relationship with
the Russian president
who he has described as a better leader than President Barack Obama.
The day after
running mate Mike Pence appeared to break ranks with Trump during a vice
presidential debate and called Putin "a small and bullying leader,"
Trump adjusted his own previously warm rhetoric toward the Russian.
"I don't love
(Putin), I don't hate. We'll see how it works. We'll see," Trump told
supporters during a campaign stop in the swing state of Nevada. "Maybe
we’ll have a good relationship. Maybe we’ll have a horrible relationship. Maybe
we’ll have a relationship right in the middle."
Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has criticized Trump, who often praises
Putin, as being too cozy with the Russian leader and questioned the
Republican's business interests in Russia. Those charges were repeated by her
vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine during a debate with Pence on Tuesday.
In response, Pence
denounced Putin for his interference in Syria's civil war and support for
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"The small and
bullying leader of Russia is now dictating terms to the United States,” Pence
said. "The greatest nation on earth just withdraws from talks about a
ceasefire, while Vladimir Putin puts a missile defense system in Syria."
The vice presidential
encounter set the table for a second presidential debate on Sunday in St. Louis
between Clinton and Trump, who needs to rebound from a rocky performance in his
first debate, one that gave Clinton a boost in national opinion polls with the
Nov. 8 Election Day only five weeks away.
In Nevada, Trump
suggested Russia could be a valuable ally in the fight against Islamic State,
also known by the acronym ISIS.
"I will say if
we get along with Russia and Russia went out with us and knocked the hell out
of ISIS, that’s okay with me, folks,” he said.
Trump celebrated a
strong debate performance by Pence, the governor of Indiana, and said his
running mate had won on style and on the issues.
"He's getting
tremendous reviews from me and everybody," Trump told a group of pastors
and leaders gathered at a Christian academy in Las Vegas.
DEBATE ATTACKS
The encounter
between Pence and Kaine, a U.S. senator from Virginia, was the only such debate
between the vice presidential contenders, and the two spent most of their time
attacking each other's running mates.
For more than 90
minutes at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, Pence sought to project
an image as a reassuring presence, in contrast with the bombastic Trump, while
Kaine tried to frighten voters away from Trump and make Clinton seem more
trustworthy.
A CNN/ORC snap poll
declared Pence the winner with 48 percent support, compared with 42 percent for
Kaine, who frequently interrupted his opponent.
The television
audience for the debate was 35.6 million viewers, according to preliminary
data, about half the number who watched the first encounter between Trump and
Clinton.
Republican
strategists said Pence's strong debate performance could provide lessons for
Trump on how to approach the second debate - if he was willing or able to
learn.
"Trump should
hopefully learn a lesson - don't get angry, don't lose your cool, answer the
question you want to answer," Republican strategist John Feehery said.
"The biggest thing is to not get rattled and be able to smile when you are
attacked."
Clinton met with
advisers at her Washington, D.C., home on Wednesday and did not appear on the
campaign trail. An aide said she spoke by phone with Kaine and congratulated
him on his debate performance.
"Mike Pence
didn't want to defend Donald Trump, and as Senator Kaine said, if you can't
defend the person at the top of the ticket, how can you ask people to vote for
you," Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta told reporters outside her
house.
(This story corrects
quote in 3rd paragraph to put Putin in parentheses)
Reuters
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