Pence knocks Trump over Putin praise: ‘I know the difference between a genius and a war criminal’

Former Vice President Mike Pence took aim late Wednesday at former President Trump for calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “genius” shortly after the invasion of Ukraine last year.

“When Vladimir Putin rolled into Ukraine, the former president called him a genius,” Pence said during his CNN town hall. “I know the difference between a genius and a war criminal, and I know who needs to win in the war in Ukraine, and it’s the people fighting for their freedom and fighting to restore their national sovereignty in Ukraine.”

“And America, it’s not our war, but freedom is our fight, and we need to give the people of Ukraine the ability to fight and defend their territory,” Pence added.

Trump said that Putin was a “genius” in February 2022 for recognizing two breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I went in yesterday, and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius,’” Trump said at the time on a radio show. “Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.”

Pence’s latest remarks stood in stark contrast to Trump, who declined to answer when asked during his controversial town hall last month who should win the war. Trump has also claimed that if he were president, he could solve the war in 24 hours.

Pence late Wednesday warned that even if Putin conquered Ukraine, he would not stop there.

“Anybody that thinks Vladimir Putin will stop if he overruns Ukraine has what we say back in Indiana ‘another thing coming.’ He has no intention of stopping,” he said. “He’s made it clear that he wants to recreate that old Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.”