Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore is facing new backlash after a video of the controversial Republican politician praising Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year resurfaced online.

In an August interview that is getting renewed attention this week, a reporter for The Guardian of London asked Moore about former President Ronald Reagan's declaration that Russia "was the focus of evil in the modern world." Reagan, a Republican Party icon, famously condemned the Soviet Union during his evil empire" speech in 1983.

Moore told the Guardian that "you could say that very well about America," adding that the U.S. promotes "a lot of bad things" like same-sex marriage.

Challenging Moore, the reporter pointed out that his response was "the very argument Vladimir Putin makes" about the U.S. Moore's answer seemingly praised Putin, comparing himself to the authoritarian leader.

"Maybe Putin is right. Maybe he's more akin to me than I know," he said.

Roy Moore says “Maybe Putin is right” about his anti-LGBTQ agenda.



Putin has openly defended Chechnya’s government after their torture and killing of gay men.pic.twitter.com/2q56ki2oWI — jordan yule log ⛄️ (@JordanUhl) December 8, 2017

That response spurred outrage on the internet, and people continued to take to Twitter to express their ire.

In August, Roy Moore said Putin "was more kin to him than he knew" when Putin said America was the focus of evil in the world.



I hate him. — John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) December 8, 2017

I can remember when the GOP and Reagan thought that RUSSIA was a great evil in the world. Now DJT and Roy Moore think that Putin and the U.S. are on the same page! WOW pic.twitter.com/cgoJXgTT8Q — Julian Guidry (@guidryjulian1) December 8, 2017

Moore has already fielded criticism and calls to drop out of the race against Doug Jones, the Democrats' nominee, in the wake of accusations he sexually assaulted and harassed teenage girls decades ago, when he was a man in his early 30s. Some Republicans, however, have softened their opposition and Moore's prospects have improved ahead of next week's special election.

Still, Moore's Putin comment was not his only statement making the rounds on social media.

Critics on Twitter noted that during a September campaign event Moore said America was last "great" when slavery was also legal.

"Moore acknowledged the nation's history of racial divisions, but said: 'I think it was great at the time when families were united — even though we had slavery — they cared for one another…. Our families were strong, our country had a direction,'" The Los Angeles Times reported in September.

His comment came when one of the only African Americans in the audience at the rally asked him a question. At that same rally, Moore referred to Native Americans and Asian Americans as "reds and yellows," according to the Times.

Roy Moore:



•Molesting underage girls is no big deal

•Slavery wasn't so bad

•Women, Muslims should be barred from voting

•Jews burn in hell

•America is evil

•Putin is right



Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you the avatar of the modern GOP — Kilgore Trout (@KT_So_It_Goes) December 8, 2017