Donald Trump's national security adviser-turned-political enemy sparred with a right-wing television host over the former president's record dealing with Russia.
John Bolton appeared Tuesday on Newsmax TV, where host Rob Schmitt disagreed with his assessment that Trump had been soft on Russia and showed a list of sanctions and other moves aimed at countering Vladimir Putin's aggression against Ukraine and other targets.
"He obviously wasn't Putin's puppy, as he's been portrayed as," Schmitt said.
Bolton argued that Trump never understood what he was doing with regard to Russia, saying that was his problem with his actions as president.
"This is not really a policy argument," Bolton said. "This is really about Trump's lack of any significant historical knowledge, his lack of strategic thinking and, frankly, his lack of thinking about pretty much anything other than what benefitted Donald Trump. Why was he concerned about Ukraine in the summer of 2019? Because he wanted that DNC server. Why was he concerned about corruption in Ukraine? Because he was looking for an excuse to cover the reason he was refusing to send $250 million of security assistance to the Ukraine, and only when that finally blew up in his face --"
Schmitt interrupted and said that money was eventually sent, and Bolton pointed out that it had been mandated by Congress.
"He made up the reasons that he did it," Bolton said. "He wanted to apply pressure for his own political purposes."
Schmitt complained that it was unfair to say that Trump made no intelligent moves against Russia while in office, and Bolton said the host had mischaracterized his argument.
"Trump was not fit to be president," Bolton said. "He was not competent to be president."
Schmitt then pointed out that Bolton had served under him.
"You worked for him, though," he said. "You wanted to be on that team."
Bolton paused for a long moment and insisted he had joined Trump's White House out of a sense of duty.
"Yes I did," he said, "because I wanted to try and help America -- that's exactly right, to help protect American national security."
Watch below.
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