"It’s time we had a leader who would command the respect of the world and lead on the world stage with American strength," Pence said. | AP Photo Pence criticizes Putin, but says he’s still stronger than Obama

PARIS, Va. — Russian President Vladimir Putin is “small and bullying,” but that doesn’t mean he is not stronger than President Barack Obama, Mike Pence said on Saturday.

Days after saying it is “inarguable” that Putin is stronger than Obama, Pence sought to counter criticism that the Republican presidential ticket is too praiseworthy of the Russian strongman.


“Now I heard the other day that Hillary Clinton’s running mate, your senator, said it was unpatriotic for Donald Trump and I to criticize the president’s record on foreign policy or say that some other leaders in the world were stronger on the world stage,” Pence told a crowd here at the Liberty Farm Festival. “Well, Tim, when Donald Trump and I said that the small and bullying president of Russia was a strong leader on the world stage, that wasn’t an endorsement of Vladimir Putin, that was an indictment of the weak and feckless leadership of this president and your running mate. America is stronger than Russia, America’s system is superior and better than Russia in every way, it’s time we had a leader who would command the respect of the world and lead on the world stage with American strength.”

Trump said Wednesday that Putin has been “a leader far more than our president has been a leader,” and Pence defended the remarks in an interview Thursday.

Pence’s reframing of the remarks on Saturday — seeming to imply that he and Trump meant Putin is “stronger on the world stage” — comes after an avalanche of criticism of Trump’s and Pence’s remarks.

Speaker Paul Ryan, when asked about the comments, called Putin “an aggressor that does not share our interests.”

But Trump allies have argued that Russia’s more muscular stance on the world stage, from its annexation of Crimea to involvement in the Syrian civil war, are a symbol of American retreat internationally.