Donald Trump Has Desire to 'Cuddle' Putin, Former Aide Warns

Anthony Scaramucci, a former White House staffer for Donald Trump, accused the former president of wanting to "cuddle" with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday while also discussing his own intention to vote for President Joe Biden in November.

Trump has long been criticized for what has been perceived as a soft stance on Putin, often verging into outright affection. He has been noted often for his seeming unwillingness to criticize the Russian leader on matters that draw widespread criticism from many figures in the American political landscape, most recently declining to implicate Putin in the death of opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, until admitting that he was "probably" responsible in a Fox News interview earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Trump sparked bipartisan backlash last month with his remarks about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during a campaign rally by saying he would "encourage" Russia to do "whatever the hell" they want to NATO members who insufficiently contribute financially to the military alliance.

Among those continuing to criticize Trump for his relationship with Putin is Scaramucci, the former financier known for a notably brief tenure in the former president's administration, serving as White House communications director for 10 days in July 2017. He was fired from the position by Trump after making critical remarks about members of the administration in a New Yorker interview that he mistakenly believed was off the record. Since then, he has emerged as a vocal critic of Trump and his ongoing political agenda, as have many other former staffers from his administration.

On Friday, Scaramucci appeared on CNN where he predicted that Trump's 2024 presidential campaign will continue "to run out of money" and stating that he would be "bad for business" if reelected.

His comment prompted one X, formerly Twitter, user to bemoan Scaramucci and other Trump critics for not being as vocal in their support of Biden as an alternative. In response, Scaramucci made his intentions for November clear.

"I have made it very clear that I will be voting for Joe Biden," he wrote in a Saturday morning X post.

This prompted yet another response from an X user, accusing Scaramucci of "betraying" the Republican Party and asking why people should trust him.

"Because I saw the dangers and instability of Donald Trump first hand," Scaramucci also wrote Saturday. "The lies, the criminality and insecurity that causes him to pull away from all America has built, his desire destroy our democracy and cuddle Putin. Saw it firsthand and will work to stop it."

Trump is now the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee for president. He is set for a 2020 rematch in November against the presumptive Democratic nominee, President Biden.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office via email for comment on Saturday afternoon.