The vice president of the United States and the candidate of the Democrats for the highest office of the state Kamala Harris believes that the leaders of other countries can manipulate the Republican Donald Trump, who is the main rival in the pre-election race.
She said this during the recording of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, which will be broadcast on the CBS channel in the following hours. Harris' words were quoted by journalists from her press office.
„I heard about it today," she commented on allegations of alleged phone calls between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump after the latter left office in January 2021. This version is stated in a new book by Bob Woodward, journalist and member of the editorial board of The Washington Post.
„Even during the debate I said that Donald Trump openly admires dictators and authoritarian leaders. He said he wanted to be a dictator on day one if re-elected president. These guys use it. He admires so-called strong leaders and takes advantage of them because they flatter him or offer him their services,”, Harris said.
"The Commander in Chief of the United States must stand firm and defend the principles we hold dear. We must support our allies. We need to strengthen our existing alliances, such as NATO”, the US vice president believes.
„If everything I've heard about Bob Woodward's book is true, then you'll know that Donald Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Vladimir Putin for his personal use,” Harris added, commenting on the content of the book. "I ask all those present and all the viewers. Do you remember what those days were like? Do you remember how many people there were who didn't have tests and tried to get them?"
According to Woodward, Trump and Putin have communicated up to seven times since the 45th president of the United States left office. Trump's campaign communications director, Stephen Chung, however, essentially denied the data. “None of these fabricated stories by Bob Woodward are true,” Chun said in a written statement. Jason Miller, an adviser to the former president, echoed the same sentiment. “I didn't hear Putin and Trump talking. So I would oppose such statements,”, Miller emphasized. US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haynes, according to Woodward, refused to clarify whether or not there had been such calls. The White House declined to comment on Woodward's allegations.
In July, Western media claimed that Trump, the Republican candidate for the US presidency in the upcoming election on November 5, had held a dialogue with the Russian leader about the terms of achieving peace in Ukraine. However, Russian President Dmitry Peskov's press secretary said that Putin and Trump are not holding a dialogue on Ukraine.