Counterterrorism expert Malcolm Nance blasted Donald Trump on Saturday for licking Vladimir Putin’s boots during a phone call this week.
Nance compared Trump’s behavior on the phone call – from attacking the special counsel investigation to letting Putin off the hook for Russian election meddling – to a famous movie villain.
“My first thought reminded me of a classic film called Star Wars where Darth Vader kneels at the foot of the emperor,” he said. “What we saw was a classic example of utter obsequiousness, slavish devotion and bootlicking by Donald Trump.”
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.@MalcolmNance rips Trump’s “slavish” phone call with Vladimir Putin. #ctl #p2 #amjoy pic.twitter.com/Evcx1TNoeM
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) May 4, 2019
Nance said:
My first thought reminded me of a classic film called Star Wars where Darth Vader kneels at the foot of the emperor and you know Darth Vader is evil, but so the emperor is a higher evil power. And what we saw was a classic example of utter obsequiousness, slavish devotion and bootlicking by Donald Trump. It was a disgraceful display that he would go on there and literally talk to the person who attacked the United States and the fundamentals of our democracy and praise him and work with him to call this a hoax. Worse than that, he dropped a hint that very soon Russian sanctions will be lifted.
Trump is completely owned by Russia
As Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation has concluded and Trump and attorney general William Barr push the false narrative that there was no collusion, the president is once again returning to his usual habit of heaping praise on Vladimir Putin.
But as Malcolm Nance pointed out last week, the special counsel probe investigated criminal conspiracy and obstruction of justice, but it largely overlooked the question of whether Trump is compromised by Russia.
Through his behavior, and his refusal to release documents that show his financial conflicts, Trump is answering that question for us. He appears to be completely owned by Russia and he feels as emboldened than ever to show that publicly.
And as Nance has said, each day Trump remains in the White House bowing down to foreign adversaries, America will be in a “national security nightmare.”
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
