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The day after
running mate Mike Pence appeared to break ranks with Trump
during a vice presidential debate and called Putin "a small and
bullying leader," Trump adjusted his own previously warm
rhetoric toward the Russian.
"I don't love (Putin), I don't hate. We'll see how it works.
We'll see," Trump told supporters during a campaign stop in the
swing state of Nevada. "Maybe we’ll have a good relationship.
Maybe we’ll have a horrible relationship. Maybe we’ll have a
relationship right in the middle."
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has criticized
Trump, who often praises Putin, as being too cozy with the
Russian leader and questioned the Republican's business
interests in Russia. Those charges were repeated by her vice
presidential candidate Tim Kaine during a debate with Pence on
Tuesday.
In response, Pence denounced Putin for his interference in
Syria's civil war and support for Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad.
"The small and bullying leader of Russia is now dictating terms
to the United States,” Pence said. "The greatest nation on earth
just withdraws from talks about a ceasefire, while Vladimir
Putin puts a missile defense system in Syria."
The vice presidential encounter set the table for a second
presidential debate on Sunday in St. Louis between Clinton and
Trump, who needs to rebound from a rocky performance in his
first debate, one that gave Clinton a boost in national opinion
polls with the Nov. 8 Election Day only five weeks away.
In Nevada, Trump suggested Russia could be a valuable ally in
the fight against Islamic State, also known by the acronym ISIS.
"I will say if we get along with Russia and Russia went out with
us and knocked the hell out of ISIS, that’s okay with me,
folks,” he said.
Trump celebrated a strong debate performance by Pence, the
governor of Indiana, and said his running mate had won on style
and on the issues.
"He's getting tremendous reviews from me and everybody," Trump
told a group of pastors and leaders gathered at a Christian
academy in Las Vegas.
DEBATE ATTACKS
The encounter between Pence and Kaine, a U.S. senator from
Virginia, was the only such debate between the vice presidential
contenders, and the two spent most of their time attacking each
other's running mates.
For more than 90 minutes at Longwood University in Farmville,
Virginia, Pence sought to project an image as a reassuring
presence, in contrast with the bombastic Trump, while Kaine
tried to frighten voters away from Trump and make Clinton seem
more trustworthy.
A CNN/ORC snap poll declared Pence the winner with 48 percent
support, compared with 42 percent for Kaine, who frequently
interrupted his opponent.
The television audience for the debate was 35.6 million viewers,
according to preliminary data, about half the number who watched
the first encounter between Trump and Clinton.
Republican strategists said Pence's strong debate performance
could provide lessons for Trump on how to approach the second
debate - if he was willing or able to learn.
"Trump should hopefully learn a lesson - don't get angry, don't
lose your cool, answer the question you want to answer,"
Republican strategist John Feehery said. "The biggest thing is
to not get rattled and be able to smile when you are attacked."
Clinton met with advisers at her Washington, D.C., home on
Wednesday and did not appear on the campaign trail. An aide said
she spoke by phone with Kaine and congratulated him on his
debate performance.
"Mike Pence didn't want to defend Donald Trump, and as Senator
Kaine said, if you can't defend the person at the top of the
ticket, how can you ask people to vote for you," Clinton
campaign chairman John Podesta told reporters outside her house.
(This story corrects quote in 3rd paragraph to put Putin in
parentheses)
(Additional reporting by Amanda Becker; Writing by John
Whitesides; Editing by Alistair Bell)
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