Donald Trump was under fire on Sunday for drawing an apparent moral equivalency between the US and the regime of Vladimir Putin in Russia, suggesting that while Mr Putin may be a "killer", the US is not "so innocent" either.

Mr Trump told Fox News that he respects the Russian president, while adding that he might not "get along with him" later in his presidency.

He then appeared to defend Mr Putin when asked why a "killer" had his respect.

"There are a lot of killers. We've got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country's so innocent?" he replied.