The top Republican at the US Senate is apparently distancing himself from President Donald Trump by speaking against his Muslim ban and proclivity for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who has avoided criticizing Trump since he assumed office, appeared on CNN on Sunday to speak up.
“I do respect him,” McConnell said of Trump. “I respect a lot of people, that doesn’t mean I’m going to get along with him.”
He also hit back at Trump’s comparison of the US and Russia in human rights violations.
Trump told Fox News on Saturday that the US also has resorted to extrajudicial killings just like Russia, responding to claims that Putin is a “killer.”
McConnell rejected any “equivalency” between the two states.
“I don’t think there’s any equivalency… America is exceptional…There’s a clear distinction here,” he said. “I obviously don’t see this issue the same way as he does.”
