built up whelan into being this, you know, spy or espionage, this person who s guilty of espionage. tom, the fact that you have all of these republicans claiming joe biden was a terrible negotiator, and what donald trump did with the taliban, releasing after 5,000 taliban terrorists, getting nothing in exchange. it s more of the same with donald trump, cozying up to north korea dictators, to vladimir putin, to autocrats. one bad deal after another. the north korean example, i think, is the best one. the north koreans got everything they ever wanted in terms of legitimacy and recognition, and a free hand to act. while the president of the united states literally talked about falling in love with one of the worst dictators on the planet right now. but it goes back to the problem that the republicans simply are
the white house, these very kinds of decision. i m curious what you think about how they re handling it, whether they re doing the right thing by at this point, as kate said, a real politic kind of cozying up to saudi arabia despite all of their qualms. i think they re doing the wrong thing, and i ve been in those conversations and the reality is the real politic doesn t bear out either. the saudis have been working against american interests, particularly the interests of democratic administrations in that region for a long time. and when i look back on our administration, you know, one of my biggest regrets is that the obama administration supported that saudi war in yemen, around some of the same logic. we thought we could moderate their behavior, we thought it was important to maintain this partnership, instead of having a rupture. the bottom line, as joe biden said, we are in a war around democracy and autocracy around the world. if i m getting my team together
opposition coalition s roughly 34%. the same day voters in serbia reelected a populist staunchly pro-putin president by a landslide. in france where the first round of presidential elections set for today polling suggests that macron s lead has been evaporating and that le pen has surged significant isly. as a new york times head line says even before france votes the french right is a big winner. in europe at least right wing populism continues to thrive. it s not that russia s actions in ukraine are popular, they just don t dominate people s world view. the reputations of the pro-russian politicians have not suffered from the war as many expected. frustrated by the hungarian leader s cozying up to putin volodymyr zelenskyy actually denounced orban, calling him virtually the only one in europe to openly support mr. putin. it didn t work. in america one sees similar forces at work though they are
frustrated by the hungarian leader s cozying up to putin volodymyr zelenskyy actually denounced orban, calling him virtually the only one in europe to openly support mr. putin. it didn t work. in america one sees similar forces at work though they are not as strong. initially in the first weeks of the war the republican party seemed to revert to its historic hawkishness on foreign policy, many of its older guard are vociferously anti-putin and pro-ukrainian but that would not describe the position of the man who is still its most popular leader, donald trump. who has praised putin since the invasion. why shouldn t i root for russia, which i am? fox news highest ranked leader tucker carlson who two years ago declared he was on russia s side against the battle for ukraine has repeated russian propaganda about alleged american sponsored bio weapons labs in ukraine. it s worth noting there are some mitigating factors at play here. viktor orban has manipulated hungary s democracy in wa
conversation. we want you to come back. we have these conversations about cozying up to venezuela, iran, saudi arabia, with those who will take our phone calls. there s a lot of pushback on what s happening there. neil, appreciate your time. thank you for having me. special coverage continues. more live reporting from ukraine, checking in with benjamin, next. the internet isn t all cat videos. be back soon. we all do things that leave us vulnerable to digital crime and financial loss. like using the same password you ve had since high school.