Putin faces backlash over Jew-Russia meddling remark

Moscow [Russia], Mar 12 (ANI): Russian President Vladimir Putin has faced backlash for suggesting that the 2016 US presidential polls">polls have been likely manipulated by the Russian Jews.

Putin's remarks came during an interview with NBC News on Saturday, in which he speculated that nearly anyone other than the Russian government could have been behind a program to disrupt the election, reported the Washington Post.

Referring to who might have been behind the election interference, Putin told Megyn Kelly, "Maybe they're not even Russians. Maybe they're Ukrainian, Tatars, Jews - just with Russian citizenship."

The Russian President added, "Maybe they have dual citizenship, or maybe a green card. Maybe it was the Americans who paid them for this work. How do you know? I don't know."

"President Putin suggesting that Russian Federation minorities, be they Ukrainian, Tatar, or Jewish, were behind U.S. election is eerily reminiscent of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. He should clarify his comments at the earliest opportunity," the American Jewish Committee tweeted Saturday.

Members of Israel's parliament have also thrown flak at Putin's comments.

"We are quite familiar with the oldies 'Maybe Jews run the world, maybe Jews use blood for their rituals, maybe Jews had slaughtered Jews in Poland'. Now comes the latest hit 'maybe Jews meddled in US elections'. Our government has to condemn strongly this statement #putin #jews," Ksenia Svetlova, a Zionist Union lawmaker tweeted. (ANI)