During an MSNBC panel discussion on Donald Trump’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former Naval Intelligence official mocked the president as being weak for failing to mention Russian tampering with the 2020 election.

Speaking with “AM Joy” host Joy Reid, national security expert Malcolm Nance called out Trump for sucking up to Putin.

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“What we saw was a classic example of utter obsequiousness,” Nance began. “Slavish devotion and bootlicking by Donald Trump.”

“It was a disgraceful display that he would go on there and literally talk to the person who attacked the United States on the fundamentals of our democracy and praise him and work with him to call this a hoax,” Nance continued. “Worse than that, he dropped a hint very soon Russian sanctions will be lifted.”

Pressed by host Reid, Nance added, “I think he likes to delude himself he’s in control. As we know, he’s had financial arrangements and political arrangements with the Russian Mafia going back several decades in which he owes them a great deal of money and they have control what they want to reveal.”

“We saw him prostrate himself in Helsinki, ask Putin to be his best friend on Twitter, beg Russia for Hillary Clinton’s emails — none of this is new” he remarked. “However, I think Trump doesn’t care necessarily if people know what their relationship is; he wants to flaunt it, wants people to feel powerless. He wants the United States and the people of the United States to know they’re effectively being treated like citizens of a proxy state to Russia.”

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