Trump calls Putin's comment that he prefers Biden over Trump a 'great compliment'

Former President Donald Trump reacted to Russian President Vladimir Putin saying he prefers President Joe Biden over Trump because Biden is “more experienced” and “more predictable,” is a “great compliment.”

“President Putin of Russia has just given me a great compliment, actually,” Trump said at a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday.

“He just said that he would much rather have Joe Biden as president than Trump,” he continued. “Now that's a compliment. A lot of people said, ‘Oh, gee, that's too bad.’ No, no, that's a good thing. And of course, he would say that.”

The latest Trump comment comes on the heels of him recently saying at a previous rally in South Carolina that he’d “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to foreign allies of the United States that don’t pay their “fair share” of defense funding — receiving backlash from some critics.

Trump’s latest comment was in response to Putin’s comments during an interview with a correspondent of Russian state television, in which he reportedly said he believes Biden getting reelected would be a better choice for Russia’s interest — though he added he will work with any U.S. leader.

“Biden, he's more experienced, more predictable, he's a politician of the old formation,” Putin said according to the Associated Press’ translation of the interview. “But we will work with any U.S. leader whom the American people trust.”

At the North Charleston rally, Trump said it’s a given Putin would prefer Biden’s victory because he himself put a break on Russia’s interest while he was president, especially on the construction of Nord Stream 2, a controversial German-Russian pipeline, which would have carried natural gas from Russia to Europe.

“I