Republicans Criticized Trump After He Congratulated Vladimir Putin For Winning Re-Election

“An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators,” Sen. John McCain said. “President Trump insulted very Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election.”

"I had a call with President Putin and congratulated him on the victory, his electoral victory," Trump told reporters from the Oval Office Tuesday. "We had a very good call and I suspect we'll probably be meeting in the not-so-distant future."

"President Trump congratulated President Putin on his March 18 re-election, and emphasized the importance of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula," read a White House description of the call.

Not only is Russia believed to have meddled in the 2016 US presidential election, but Putin's policies involving assembly, speech, and candidate registration is believed to have greatly impacted this year's presidential election, which Putin easily won.

According to the BBC, Putin won the election with 76.68 percent of the vote.

Putin has remained in power in Russia since 1999, leading the country in either the position of president or prime minister.

Since then, his government has been known to crack down on political dissidents and critics ruthlessly.

Despite the criticism, it is not unusual for US presidents to congratulate Putin in his election victories. In 2012, President Barack Obama also called Putin to congratulate him in his election then.

Screenshot / Via obamawhitehouse.archives.gov

The Trump Administration, however, has made the decision not to speak with world leaders believed to unfairly taint democratic elections. Last year, for example, Trump declined to take a call from Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, stating that the US has asked him to "hold free and fair elections."

White House

“In the name of France, the French president offered Russia and the Russian people his wishes for success with the modernisation of the country on the political, democratic, economic and social fronts,” the Elysee said in a statement.

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