Former CIA deputy director Michael Morell thinks Trump has some 'special affection' for Vladimir Putin

Former acting and deputy director of the CIA Michael Morell has reacted to US President Donald Trump’s remarks about Russian leader Vladimir Putin, pointing out that there is no equivalency between Putin’s “extrajudicial killings” and what the United States does to protect itself from serious threats. He believes that what Trump has just said about Putin is a very bizarre statement and thinks he has some special affection for the Russian president.

Morell believes that the new commander in chief of the US military “doesn’t have a good understanding of what Putin has done over a very long period of time.” He thinks the US president has some special affection for Putin. “I think he has some special affection for Putin that is a result of something that we don’t fully understand,” he said.

Morell was a guest at “CBS This Morning” on Monday when he got the chance to share his thoughts about Trump comparing Putin to America. He clarified that the country has the authority of the President of the United States to defend itself and its people against harm. Putin, on the other hand, “has killed dozens and dozens of journalists [and] political opponents both inside of Russia and outside of Russia.” The American intelligence analyst believes that it could be as simple as Putin praising Trump and the latter praising the other man in return.

When asked by host Bill O’Reilly earlier this month if he respects Putin, Trump said he does. The host tried to remind him that Putin is a killer but Trump defended the Russian president, saying, “We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent?”

Trump believes it would be better if the United States could get along with Russia. The two countries can cooperate with each other to defeat Islamic terrorism.

In his earlier interviews, Trump backed up Putin on issues of journalist killings. Twenty-three journalists have been murdered since 2000, the same year when Putin has taken office. “It’s never been proven that he’s killed anybody, so you know you’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty at least in our country he has not been proven that he’s killed reporters,” Trump told ABC News.

Putin had been vocal about his support for him during the 2016 president election, with Kremlin-controlled media outlets publicly stating their preference for Trump over his opponent, Hillary Clinton. Kremlin-controlled media outlets support the Russian government.