Russian President Vladimir Putin sounded a lot like President Trump when critiquing the American press during a sit-down interview with NBC News’ Megyn Kelly that aired Sunday.
Kelly had pressed the Russian leader on his knowledge of any meetings the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergei Kislyak, had with members of Trump’s team. Notably, Kelly asked about meetings last year with then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, which Sessions failed to disclose during the attorney general confirmation process. She also questioned Putin on what he knows about a meeting that reportedly took place between Kislyak and Trump’s aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner, in which Kushner reportedly floated the idea of a secret backchannel with the Russians.
Putin claimed he knew nothing about these encounters, even saying he hardly speaks with Kislyak.
He initially claimed there were no meetings between Kislyak and Sessions, who had been serving as an adviser to Trump’s campaign at the time. Asked again about communications between members of Trump’s campaign and Kislyak, Putin replied, “I have no idea. I’m being honest.”
“Do you think I have time to talk to our ambassadors every day all over the world? Complete nonsense,” he said.
When pressed on the Kushner meeting or any any other encounters between Trump campaign officials and Russian officials, Putin repeatedly said he didn’t talk with Kislyak and there weren’t any relevant reports written and handed to him.
Then Putin condemned the U.S. media, accusing them of creating hit pieces to damage Trump’s reputation.
“For me, this is just amazing,” he said after the flurry of questions. “You create a sensation out of nothing and out of this sensation, you turn it into a weapon of war against the current president. Well, this is, you know, you’re just, you people are so creative over there. Good job. Your lives must be boring.”
Putin’s implication of the press being “creative” strikes a similar tune as Trump when he condemns the media for unflattering stories and use of unnamed sources. His go-to line is to call out the “fake news” media.
Putin also claimed he has almost no relationship with former national security adviser Mike Flynn, who was fired from the Trump administration earlier this year for lying about his communications with Kislyak.
“I didn’t even really talk to him,” Putin said of a 2015 dinner in Moscow where they had sat next to each other.
