Republicans seek distance from Trump's comments on Putin, US
US President Donald Trump has long expressed a desire for improved relations with Moscow, but his latest comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin and the U.S. are leading some fellow Republicans to take a step back from the president—on this issue at least.
Told by Fox News' Bill O'Reilly during an interview that the Russian leader is "a killer," Trump said the US has killers, too. "What do you think? Our country's so innocent?" Trump said during the taped interview broadcast during Sunday's Super Bowl pregame show.
Trump has praised Putin and signaled that US-Russia relations could be in for a makeover under his leadership, even after US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 US presidential campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. During Putin's years in power, a number of prominent Russian opposition figures and journalists have been killed.
