The top Republican at the US Senate is apparently distancing himself from President Donald Trump by speaking against his Muslim ban and proclivity for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who has avoided criticizing Trump since he assumed office, appeared on CNN on Sunday to speak up.
"I do respect him," McConnell said of Trump. "I respect a lot of people, that doesn't mean I'm going to get along with him."
He also hit back at Trump’s comparison of the US and Russia in human rights violations.
Trump told Fox News on Saturday that the US has also resorted to extrajudicial killings just like Russia, responding to claims that Putin is a “killer.”
McConnell rejected any “equivalency” between the two states.
“I don’t think there’s any equivalency… America is exceptional…There’s a clear distinction here,” he said. “I obviously don’t see this issue the same way as he does.”
The Kentucky Republican also spoke against Putin and the reunification of Crimea in 2014.
“Putin is a former KGB — he’s an agent, he’s a thug,” McConnell said. “The Russians annexed Crimea, invaded Ukraine and messed around in our elections. No, I don’t think there is any equivalency between the way the Russians conduct themselves and the way the United States does.”
No ‘religious test’
The Senate majority leader also denounced Trump’s Muslim ban, reverted after a court ruling on Saturday.
The Republican president issued an executive order recently to impose a 90-day entry ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia, block refugees from Syria indefinitely, and suspend all refugee admissions for 120 days.
“Proper vetting is important to the American people. But there is a fine line here between proper vetting and interfering with the kind of travel or suggesting some kind of religious test. And we need to avoid doing that kind of thing,” McConnell said.
He also slammed Trump’s lambasting of the “so-called judge,” who ruled against his executive order, suggesting that the administration should adhere to the court order.
McConnell fundamentally disagrees with Trump in a series of other issues, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the president repealed soon after his grip on power on January 20th.