Syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer said Wednesday on "Special Report with Bret Baier" that if Russia's aggressive behavior continues to play out before the November election, the issue will put Donald Trump's campaign in a vulnerable position.
In addition to Putin's potentially authoritarian move, media reports in recent days allege that Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort assisted a pro-Russian political party in the Ukraine to channel $2.2 million in payments to two lobbying firms in the U.S.
"On almost every issue abroad, the opponent is the one who would benefit if something bad happens. The incumbent, which is Hillary, would be the one who would suffer. But there is one exception, that's Russia," said Krauthammer.
The Minsk Accord signed in 2015 called for military de-escalation by Russia. President Vladimir Putin however has staged troops, tanks, and weaponry along the neighboring borders, signaling a threat of further invasion of Ukraine besides the Crimea region.
Trump praised Putin recently saying "at least he's a leader," and challenged Russian hackers to find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails at a time when the U.S. government believes that Russia is responsible for hacking into the computer system at the Democratic National Committee. Trump later claimed he was just joking about the invitation to hackers.
"This would be the one item that could deflect really badly on Trump because of the warm way he's spoke about Putin," Krauthammer said.
"The one area abroad where the challenger is vulnerable in this campaign is Russia because of the lovey-dovey relationship between Putin and Trump, absent that it's all risk for Hillary," he added.
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