Just a few months ago, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were singing each others’ praises, with the Russian president calling the Republican frontrunner “talented” and Trump insisting he would “get along with him very well.”
But as the US election heats up, the bully bromance has fallen victim to the electoral fight.
In a new ad attacking Hillary Clinton, Trump’s campaign put an image of Putin smacking a judo opponent on the ground alongside footage of a masked terrorist, calling the two “America’s toughest opponents.”
The Kremlin was not thrilled. “We assess this negatively,” said Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the Washington Post reported, citing Russian media. “It’s no secret that the demonization of Russia, unfortunately, is an essential feature of the American election campaign.”
A pro-Clinton Super PAC got into the fray with a pointed ad that is just like Trump’s, but ends with a recent quote from Trump saying he consults himself on foreign policy, because he has a “big brain.”