Former U.S. ambassador to Russia expertly spears Trump's praise for Putin in one tweet

Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, delivered a supremely pithy retort via Twitter on Friday to Donald Trump's commendation of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "82 percent approval rating." In response to Trump's controversial praise earlier this week of Putin's "very strong control" over Russia, McFaul sarcastically pointed out that maybe President Obama, too, could be as popular as Putin if he started, say, arresting his detractors and taking control of the media:

Trump has been praising Putin all week, and on Thursday he appeared on Russia's state TV network, RT, to be interviewed by Larry King. Meanwhile, Trump's running mate Mike Pence has said Trump's declaration that Putin has been "a leader far more than our president has been a leader" is "inarguable."

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