Rep. Jason Chaffetz said he didn’t think it was fair for Donald Trump to say Vladimir Putin is a better leader than President Obama.
“I disagree with him on that,” the Utah Republican said during an interview on MSNBC Friday. “I think they’re two totally different systems. One is essentially a dictator, it makes the equation very different than the way we operate with a Congress and judicial branch. I would not categorize it like that.”
Trump said during NBC’s commander-in-chief forum Wednesday night that “[Putin] has very strong control over a country. Now, it’s a very different system and I don’t happen to like that system. But certainly in that system he’s been a leader far more than our president has been a leader.”
Though Chaffetz, who has endorsed Trump for president, explained that such a statement is like comparing apples and oranges, he said, “I think he’s demonstrating and articulating that Barack Obama has been weak.”
“I think Donald Trump would actually be much more definitive and he would actually do what he says he’s going to do that. I haven’t seen that with Barack Obama,” Chaffetz said. “And I think Donald Trump will be by far a much better president than Hillary Clinton. That’s for sure. But that doesn’t mean that I agree with every single comment that he makes or everything that’s uttered from his lips.”
