Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that he disagreed with Donald Trump's remarks about not immediately defending NATO allies — even going so far as to say that "I think he's wrong on that."
"I disagree with that," McConnell
told Politico at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. "NATO is the most important military alliance in world history.
"I want to reassure our NATO allies that if any of them get attacked, we'll be there to defend them."
Trump told The New York Times on Wednesday that the United States would only defend NATO states attacked by Russia if those nations "have fulfilled their obligations to us."
The Republican nominee's remarks cast doubt on whether he would automatically extend the security guarantees that give the 28 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization the assurance that they have U.S. military support should an attack occur.
He specifically referred to the three small Baltic states which share borders with Russia.
McConnell, the six-term Kentucky senator, said that despite disagreeing with Trump's comments, they did not raise questions about his fitness to occupy the White House.
"I think he's wrong on that," McConnell told Politico. "I don't think that view would be prevalent or held by anybody he might make secretary of state or secretary of defense."
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