Donald Trump Campaign On Why He Did Russian TV Interview: We Were Tricked

Vladimir Putin fan Donald Trump took his support to the next logical level Thursday night, appearing on Kremlin-sponsored TV to spout pro-Russian talking points in a conversation with TV host Larry King.

After bipartisan criticism for his interview swelled instantly, Trump's campaign scrambled Friday to explain how exactly he ended up there.

The reason they came up with: The man running for president of the United States in part on the promise he will tame the Russians, was tricked — by the Russians.

The campaign thought the interview was “for his podcast as a favor to Mr. King," Hicks told the Associated Press. “What Larry King does with the interview content is up to him. We have nothing to do with it.”

Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told CNN Friday morning, "A former CNN superstar, Larry King, has a podcast, and Mr. Trump went on his podcast. Nobody said it would be on Russian TV."

King hasn't worked for CNN since 2012. He hosts a talk show on Hulu and another on "RT America," which stands for Russian Today America. The station is sponsored by the Russian government.

But whether Trump — who wants to be in charge of vetting immigrants — did the interview was with Russian Times America or The U.S.A. Patriot Freedom Gazette, the content was still disturbing.

Following a Wednesday appearance on NBC where he said Putin was a better leader than President Obama, Trump told King in a phone interview he stands by that assessment.

He went so far as to say that the hack of Democratic National Committee emails was not, actually, carried out by the Russians.

"I think it's probably unlikely. Maybe the Democrats are putting that out -- who knows," Trump said. "If they are doing something, I hope that somebody's going to be able to find out so they can end it. Because that would not be appropriate at all."

Top American intelligence officials believe Russia was behind the hack. The Kremlin has denied any involvement.

Trump and his campaign's admiration for Putin and Russia has been one of the stranger plotlines during the 2016 election. He has constantly showered the Russian demagogue with praise and called him a fierce leader.

Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, helped elect a pro-Russian propagandist in Ukraine. Trump even used one of his news conferences to urge Russian hackers to infiltrate Hillary Clinton's email servers.

His running mate Mike Pence got in on the action Thursday.

"I think it's inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country," Pence told CNN.

The Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that 36 journalists have been murdered in Russia since 2000, many by military or government officials. In 2014, a plane carrying nearly 300 people was shot down by a Russian missile. Everyone on board died.

Image via Gage Skidmore, Flickr, used under Creative Commons