AP FACT CHECK: Pence and Trump on Putin

WASHINGTON – A claim from the vice-presidential debate between Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine, and how it stacks up with the facts:

KAINE: “Governor Pence said, inarguably Vladimir Putin is a better leader than President Obama.”

PENCE: “That is absolutely inaccurate. I said he’s been stronger on the world stage.”

KAINE: “No, you said leader.”

THE FACTS: Pence didn’t limit the remark in question to Putin’s position on the world stage, as he claimed in the debate. In an interview on CNN in September, Pence said, “I think it’s inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country.”

Trump also has praised Putin, marveling that the Russian leader has an “82 per cent approval rating” and insisting that he’s “a leader, far more than our president has been.” Putin has elicited worldwide criticism for the Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.

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Contributed by Associated Press writer Alicia Caldwell.

EDITOR’S NOTE _ A look at the veracity of claims by political figures