Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) downplayed former President Donald Trump’s alarming remarks about urging Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to different NATO nations.
“He doesn’t talk like a traditional politician,” Rubio mentioned Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper. “We’ve already been through this. You think people would have figured it out.”
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At a Saturday rally in Conway, South Carolina, Trump, a NATO critic, mentioned that the alliance was “busted” till his presidency. Trump additionally recounted a dialogue with an unspecified “president of a big country,” particularly claiming he would assist a Russian assault towards members that didn’t pay sufficient for protection spending.
“No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want,” Trump, who has, sarcastically, been scrutinized for not paying payments, mentioned.
It’s unclear if the situation occurred.
Trump’s remarks ignore Article 5 of the NATO settlement, which states that every of the alliance members should unite towards an opposing nation if one member nation is attacked.
Despite widespread backlash towards Trump, Rubio defined and defended Trump’s remarks on behalf of the previous president throughout his interview with Tapper.
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“What he’s basically saying is, if you see the comments, he said NATO was broke or busted until he took over because people weren’t paying their dues, and then he told the story about how he used leverage to get people to step up to the plate and become more active in NATO,” Rubio mentioned.
“He’s not the first American president, in fact, virtually every American at some point in some way has complained about other countries and NATO not doing enough.”