Putin’s ally: If Americans vote for Clinton they risk nuclear war
Speaking during Wednesday’s presidential debate, Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton revealed to tens of millions of television viewers that “it takes four minutes from the time the president makes the call to use nuclear weapons to their actual launch.” National security officials and military commanders were upset by Clinton disclosing what should be considered classified information. Her disclosure came just as the fitness of Clinton to hold the nation’s nuclear codes.
Even officials in other countries were concerned about Hillary Clinton’s casual relationship with what is considered protected information, especially those nations that at times must allow their military forces to work with the United States.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a nationalist Russian politicians who is one of Vladimir Putin’s staunchest allies, said Americans should vote for Donald Trump or risk a nuclear war. Zhirinovsky said that electing Trump would be a “gift to humanity,” while electing Hillary Clinton would lead to warfare. The Russian press claims the powerful leader was referring to Iran which, despite the Obama denials, will not only have a nuclear bomb but may also develop a delivery system that can strike the U.S. mainland or American interests throughout the globe.
Zhirinovsky is a flamboyant and colorful individual typically offering brazen, even outrageous, comments, which appeal to the nationalist segment of the Russian electorate. His pro-Putin Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) came third in Russia’s parliamentary elections last month.
He is a long-time political insider who has had a seat in the Duma for more than two decades, and is especially close to Putin.
The Daily Express notes that as a close ally of Putin, Zhirinovsky has regularly been used to float policy ideas.
“Relations between Russia and the United States can’t get any worse,” Zhirinovsky told Reuters, “the only way they can get worse is if a war starts.”
“Americans voting for a president on 8 November must realize that they are voting for peace on Planet Earth if they vote for Trump. But if they vote for Hillary it’s war. It will be a short movie. There will be Hiroshimas and Nagasakis everywhere.”
Zhirinovsky said he thought Trump would keep the United States out of foreign conflicts such as those currently going on in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, and Iraq. He added that Trump could even win a Nobel peace prize.
“Trump will have a brilliant chance to make relations more peaceful,” Zhirinovsky said. “He’s the only one who can do this.”
The Express notes that in 2013, Zhirinovsky vigorously campaigned for a proposal intriguingly similar to one of Trump’s main campaign ideas: a border wall. Zhirinovsky three years ago called for building a defensive system – consisting of a barbed wire fence, watch towers, and even mine-fields — to better control the movement of people from the majority Muslim North Caucasus region into Russia.
Zhirinovsky has also been dogged by allegations of crude misogyny. In 2014 he was threatened with criminal charges he ordered one of his aides to rape a reporter, but the Kremlin interfered and the case was dropped.
Zhirinovsky found an especially inviting target in former U.S. secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, unleashing a stream of ugly racist and deeply offensive comments against her.
Zhirinovsky first won a seat in the Duma in the elections of 1993,promising voters that if his party won power, Russian men would get cheaper vodka and Russian women would get sexier lingerie. During the interview with Reuters, Zhirinovsky described Clinton as “an evil mother-in law” and said it was too great a risk for a powerful country to be led by a woman.
