Hillary Clinton's Anti-Russia Rhetoric - Has It Always Been This Way?

Updated July 2018

With the anti-Russia rhetoric reaching a fever pitch after the Putin - Trump meeting in Helsinki, I wanted to take a look at what the other side of the political spectrum had to say about Mr. Putin before she ran for the Oval Office.  

As I am prone to do, let's look at Hillary Clinton's inconsistencies with her approach to Russia and Vladimir Putin.  I am getting this information from a document that was given its freedom from John Podesta's computer, outlining some excerpts from Hillary Clinton's speeches that could cause her grief during the long 2016 campaign:

1.) Remarks at Sanford Bernstein, an integrated wealth management firm, on May 29, 2013:

“I last saw [Putin] in Vladivostok where I represented President Obama in September for the Asia Pacific economic community. I sat next to him. He's an engaging and, you know, very interesting conversationalist. We talked about a lot of issues that were not the hot-button issues between us, you know, his view on missile defense, which we think is misplaced because, you know, either from rogue states like Iran or from terrorist groups, that's not the way he sees it.”

2.) Remarks at Goldman Sachs on June 4, 2013:

“So we were making progress, and I think Putin has a different view. Certainly he’s asserted himself in a way now that is going to take some management on our side, but obviously we would very much like to have a positive relationship with Russia and we would like to see Putin be less defensive toward a relationship with the United States so that we could work together on some issues.”

3.) Remarks at the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago Vanguard Luncheon on October 28, 2013:

“One time, I was visiting with him in his dacha outside of Moscow, and he was going on and on, you know, just listing all of the problems that he thinks are caused by the United States. And I said, ‘Well, you know, Mr.’—at that time, he was still prime minister. I said, ‘You know, Mr. Prime Minister, we actually have some things in common. We both want to protect wildlife, and I know how committed you are to protecting the tiger.’ I mean, all of a sudden, he sat up straight and his eyes got big and he goes, ‘You care about the tiger? I said, ‘I care about the tiger, I care about the elephant, I care about the rhinoceros, I care about the whale. I mean, yeah, I think we have a duty. You know, it’s an obligation that we as human beings have to protect God’s creation.’ He goes, ‘Come with me.’ So we go down the stairs, we go down this long hall, we go into this private inner sanctum. All of his, you know, very beefy security guys are there, they all jump up at attention, you know, they punch a code, he goes through a heavily-armed door. And then we’re in an inner, inner sanctum with, you know, just this long, wooden table, and then further back, there’s a desk and the biggest map of Russia I ever saw. And he starts talking to me about, you know, the habitat of the tigers and the habitat of the seals and the whales. And it was quite something.” 

  

Apparently, Ms. Clinton's viewpoint on Russia and Vladimir Putin seemed to be dependent on her audience and how close she was (in her mind) to occupying the Oval Office.  If there was one thing that you could count on with Hillary Clinton, it was her inconsistency on any given issue. As well, there seems to be a rule of thumb when it comes to dealing with foreign nations in Washington; your friend of today becomes your foe of tomorrow.  Just ask Manuel Noriega, America's former Panamanian puppet how that story ended.