Garry Kasparov tells Newsmax TV he's not impressed with Donald Trump's trashing of the American political system.
The former World Chess Champion and political activist also believes the Republican presidential nominee is doing the United States no favors by not rejecting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"[I have] a lot of problems [with Trump]. First of all, he says I don't like the system," Kasparov said Friday on Newsmax TV's "America Talks Live" with Steve Malzberg.
"It's not enough. It's not about liking it or not … The America president or to-be president, candidate of a major party, must reject a dictatorship. The way he presented his opinion on Putin is it's not that he's praising Putin as a strong leader, it's [that he's] a strong leader by definition.
"It sounds like praising the methods of destroying democracy, dealing with political activists, destroying free media, invading neighboring countries, ignoring and violating international law. Unfortunately Donald Trump's record offers no confidence that if he's elected and he will find the right language."
Kasparov is the author of "Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped," published by PublicAffairs.
Despite his misgivings, the Russian-born Kaspaorov, who now lives in New York City and whom many consider to be the greatest chess player of all time, believes American democracy is "strong enough to survive even with Donald Trump as president.
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