Donald Trump has been giving Russia and Vladimir Putin more respect than American officials for a long time. This isn’t a new situation.

This lack of deference for American authorities, while displaying such a generous respect for players who have, traditionally, not been people the United States have an abundance of trust in is making a lot of people nervous.

The lawyer for former President Richard Nixon is questioning Trump’s fitness for the office of the presidency, in light of his casual attitude regarding potential interference from the Russians in the 2016 election.

John Dean, who served as White House Counsel to the former president and was directly involved in the Watergate scandal, says he’s troubled by Trump’s lack of knowledge and penchant for lies.

It’s the same thing a lot of us have been screaming about for almost two years.

It is deeply troubling when you realize that the president-elect generally does not know what he is talking about and when he does he lies.

— John Dean (@JohnWDean) December 29, 2016

Ok. Ouch.

Not that he’s wrong.

The chief strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign, Matthew Dowd, echoed a similar lack of confidence in President-elect Trump.

Lets be clear: U aren't an American patriot & don't respect Constitution if u believe Putin more than our President and intelligent services

— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) December 29, 2016

He’s speaking of Trump’s reaction to the sanctions put on Russia by President Obama on Thursday, as a response to Russia’s interference in the election.

While Obama’s actions against Israel have earned him scorn from both Republicans and Democrats, alike, with his move against Russia, he at least got this one thing right. Many Republican lawmakers have cheered this move. Senators Lindsay Graham and John McCain have gone as far as to suggest even stronger measures should be applied.

For his part, however, Trump has waved it off as a lot of nothing.

In response to the sanctions, Trump released a statement saying it was time to “move on to bigger and better things,” but also promised to meet with intelligence officials “to be updated on the facts of this situation.”

This would be the same Trump who insisted for weeks leading up to the election that the election was rigged, but once he won, wanted to let it go.

Mr. Dean has a point.