Putin and KKK questions

Trump adviser Flynn gets agitated over Putin and KKK questions

By Yousef Saba

Ret. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a regular surrogate for Donald Trump, became agitated on Wednesday morning after being peppered with direct questions about whether Trump's campaign boosts Vladimir Putin and white supremacists.

“How many times does Donald Trump have to say he's debunked that organization?” he asked, referring to the Ku Klux Klan, as he cut off MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle before she completed her question. “Why do you bring this up? That demeans your — you, you're a good journalist. By even raising that issue, after...“

After a verbal tussle, Ruhle managed to ask whether the “nationalist views” and the “tone set” by some Trump supporters is dangerous.

“I don't know why you're wasting your time. Here's what I know. What I know is that the American people are very smart, and the American people are very sick of the establishment in Washington, D.C.,” Flynn said.

Earlier in the interview, Ruhle pressed Flynn on Russia issues, citing reports that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Carter Page, a Trump adviser, have been investigated for alleged ties to the Kremlin. “It seems so unusual to have so many people on one campaign tied to a very dangerous foreign government,” she said.

“Well — you know — I would tell you the first couple of names you mentioned, they're not tied to this campaign anymore. And, you know, what we really ought to be talking about is the fact that the FBI just reopened a major national security investigation against Hillary Clinton.”

Clinton's campaign, which has been reeling since FBI Director James Comey's Friday announcement that the agency is reviewing new evidence, reopening its probe into Clinton's use of a private email server at the State Department, has tried to shift the attention to Trump's alleged ties to Russia. The Republican nominee has offered complimentary words about Putin, but has denied he has any formal connection to the Kremlin.

Ruhle asked Flynn to describe Putin twice in the interview. He did not do so, and instead argued that the current administration made a deal with Russia “to give the leading state sponsor of terrorism, meaning Iran, a nuclear weapon.”

When Flynn was asked whether he respects Putin, he said, “I mean, stop it with that kind of stuff.”