It may not have been the choicest of venues for Donald Trump, as he disputes the charge that he is being played by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But there he was Thursday, being interviewed on Russia Today, the network funded by the Kremlin. Trump’s campaign said it was all a big mistake.
The interviewer was Larry King, whom Trump has known for years. Campaign officials said the candidate’s understanding was that the interview would be used only for King’s podcast.
Some were skeptical of that explanation.
Trump took the opportunity while being interviewed for Putin’s network to say he does not believe Putin is interfering in the American election.
“I think it's probably unlikely,” Trump said of findings by investigators that hackers working for Putin stole files from the servers of the Democratic National Committee and distributed them to Wikileaks.
Trump's defense of the Russian president that puts him at odds with other high-profile Republicans, as well as cybersecurity experts who have said the evidence overwhelmingly points to Russia being responsible for the hack.
“Maybe the Democrats are putting that out — who knows," Trump said in the interview with King. "If they are doing something, I hope that somebody's going to be able to find out so they can end it. Because that would not be appropriate at all."
A spokeswoman for King's production company, Ora Media, said in an email that the program was produced independently, but that Russia Today is among the companies permitted to broadcast it through a licensing agreement.
4:55 p.m.: This post was updated with background on Ora Media's licensing agreement.
