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Former White House chief of staff says he is in 'disbelief' over GOP support for Putin after Trump called the Russian leader a genius
Donald Trump John Kelly
White House chief of staff John Kelly listens as then-President Donald Trump speaks at the Cabinet Room of the White House.Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images
  • Trump and other Republicans have praised Putin.

  • John Kelly, the former White House Chief of Staff, told CNN that he was in disbelief over GOP support.

  • Kelly said that he didn't get it.

John Kelly, the former White House Chief of Staff, told CNN that he was "disbelief" over some Republicans' support for Putin.

Kelly told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday that he doesn't get Donald Trump's praise for Putin.

Putin is a tyrant. He is a murderer. He has attacked an innocent country that wants to be free and democratic and they are working in that direction.

He asked if Putin was smart. tyrants are smart They know what they are doing. I can't imagine why someone would look at what's happening there and see something other than a criminal act.

Kelly did not mention his former boss by name.

The interview can be watched below.

—CNN (@CNN) February 24, 2022

Hundreds of thousands of troops were stationed at the border of Russia and Ukraine. The capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, was hit by explosions.

In the last few weeks, Trump and many other leading conservative figures, including Tucker Carlson, had praised Putin as he threatened the attack.

On Tuesday, Trump told Clay and Buck that Putin's justification for invading Ukraine was genius.

In an interview with the Center for the National Interest last week, Trump's former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, expressed "enormous respect" for Putin.

Insider is covering the developments of the invasion on their live blog.

The original article is on Business Insider.

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