Mike McFaul: Reports of John Ratcliffe’s Visit to Moscow, U.S. Being Weakened by Iran War Are a Victory for Putin

EXCERPT:

MCFAUL: “This is a victory for Putin. This is a victory for Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un. When we look weak, we’re bogged down in a war that nobody supports in America. Our allies don’t support it. We’ve taken tremendous losses. Our relationships with our partners and allies in the region are strained. This strengthens our adversaries. Vladimir Putin loves this. And at a certain point, the president makes it all worse when he just doesn’t look like a commander-in-chief. I mean, this absurd video he posted today about Kharg Island, the really crazy one of these Canadian geese with their guns, with Trump hair. What — if you’re a soldier in the American army — again, I’ve never served in the military, but how does that instill confidence in your commander-in-chief? But around the world, I can tell you, it does not instill confidence. It instills doubt about America’s leadership, America’s former leadership of the free world. We just don’t look like we’re up to the task right now.”