CNN Anchor Shares Clip of Ex-World Leader Slamming Trump to Dispel Notion ‘The World Sees Him As Strong’

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

CNN anchor Jim Sciutto took aim at one of the major claims pushed on the right to support former President Donald Trump returning to office – the notion foreign leaders see him as strong.

Sciutto shared a recent clip of former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ripping into Trump and added:

Here’s the thing: Trump supporters claim the world sees him as strong. Here’s the former leader of one of America’s closest allies saying the opposite.

In the clip, Turnbull says, “When you see Trump with Putin, as I have on a few occassions, he’s like the 12-year old boy that goes to high school and meets the captain of the football team. ‘My hero!’ It’s really creepy.”

Turnbull led Australia from 2015 to 2018 and worked closely with the Trump administration during the overlapping years. Turnbull made the comments while on a panel Monday with writer Rebecca Huntley, British historian Peter Frankopan, Ukrainian-born academic Olga Oleinikova, and Sydney University’s Jioji Ravolu. The discussion aired on Australian television and focused on the future of democracy and its challengers around the globe.

Turnbull also warned that “Donald Trump does not believe the law applies to him” and slammed the GOP frontrunner as “a bully” who “encourages people to suck up to him.” The former prime minister noted he refused to do that and as a result, had a tense relationship with Trump — despite being a key ally.

Watch the clip above.