GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher fiercely defends Russia, calls human rights violations 'baloney'

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) is reportedly on an increasingly short list of candidates being considered by Donald Trump for secretary of state. But when pressed Wednesday night by Yahoo News' Bianna Golodryga about Trump's friendliness towards Russia, considering the human rights abuses committed by the nation, Rohrabacher scoffed, "Oh, baloney! Where do you come from?"

From there, the exchange became fiery and downright personal. Golodryga responded that she is from the former Soviet Union and that she came to the U.S. as a political refugee, to which Rohrabacher shot back: "Oh, well, then that's good, then the audience knows you're biased."

When challenged again about Russia's human rights violations, Rohrabacher, a former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, said Reagan would have loved his stance on Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Reagan was the one who reached out to [Mikhail] Gorbachev," he explained. Again, Golodryga attempted to clarify: "Are you comparing Gorbachev to Vladimir Putin?"

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"Absolutely, I am," Rohrabacher confirmed. Watch the explosive exchange below. Jeva Lange