Garry Kasparov, who's been hailed as the greatest chess player of all time, says Sen. Marco Rubio is best suited to spearhead American foreign policy and match wits with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the nation's next commander-in-chief.
"I would trust him more than any other GOP candidate in foreign policy," Kasparov, a former World Chess Champion for 20 consecutive years, said Wednesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
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"From my personal perspective as someone who cares about foreign policy and somebody who wants to see America restore its leadership, I would pick Marco Rubio because when you say something, you have to believe in it.
"Rubio has Cuban roots and it should help. Genetically, he understands the danger of communism, dictatorship, the KGB. Rubio will remember about Cuban suffering and it will help him to stand against Putin."
Kasparov — a Russian exile living in New York City — is author of
"Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped," published by Public Affairs.
He has been one of the world's most outspoken critics of Putin, whom he has called "Hitler-esque." In 2008, he led the pro-democracy opposition to Putin in the 2008 presidential election.
Two years ago, Kasparov announced his self-imposed exile from Russia, saying he feared political prosecution. The decision came a year after he was accused of biting a cop's finger at a rally for the jailed Russian punk rock group Pussy Riot.
According to the
New York Daily News, Rubio listed Kasparov as one of the three people he would like to have a beer with. The other two people Rubio mentioned are Pakistani teen Malala Yousafzai and Miami Dolphins great Dan Marino.
Aside from Rubio, Kasparov said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is also running for president, would also be good at foreign policy
"Chris Christie could actually do it, but you know, it's probably a long shot," he said.
Kasparov is highly critical of President Barack Obama's response to Putin's military aggression in the former Soviet Union and the Middle East.
"It's a disgrace for a U.S. president, for the institution, because Obama doesn't understand it … When they were selling the Iranian deal to the American public and to the world, they kept repeating, oh, it's a choice between peace and war," he said.
"I can tell him that between peace and war there's a big territory called leadership, that many things can be done if you're a true leader and unfortunately, he showed no signs of understanding how it works. And it's not just one mistake.
"Obama walked away from Syria … removing [the] Assad [regime] at that time could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives and also could send a message to the Iranians, to Putin, to all these terrorists. Obama did nothing and caused a huge havoc in the region."
Kasparov said Putin is bent on "creating chaos, creating problems, creating wars, [which] is his only justification of staying in power.
"He knows that the economy will never work in his favor any more in Russia, so he has to sell a different mythology to Russian people. That's why as long as Putin stays in Kremlin in power, he will create problems.
"Unfortunately, there are too many opportunities for him to create problems. I believe he and the Iranians will try to push ISIS, the Islamic State … against Saudi Arabia because if Saudi Arabia, God forbid blows up, it will push oil prices. This is Putin's number one priority."
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