Apparently, to be Team Trump is synonymous with being Team Putin.

On Wednesday, former Trump campaign manager/current CNN political analyst/forever Trump loyalist/vicious niblet, Corey Lewandowski appeared with Alisyn Camerota, and couldn’t stop praising a Russian dictator.

Trump praised the Russian president Wednesday during a “commander-in-chief forum” and went on Kremlin-funded RT the following day to criticize American foreign policy and defend Putin from charges that he was interfering in the U.S. election.

Alisyn Camerota asked Lewandowski, who pointed out he was still receiving severance pay from the Trump campaign, why his former boss continued to praise the Russian president.

“You hear what Mike Pence said, that Vladimir Putin has had a stronger influence on his country than Barack Obama has had here,” Lewandowski said. “He’s been a stronger leader.”

He has that “stronger influence” because of his ruthless, iron fisted tactics. Considering Lewandowski’s own abusive bent, as well as the harsh and hostile nature of others that Trump has installed in top positions within his team, it’s not a surprise that they would see nothing wrong with Putin’s practice of locking up his political rivals or shutting down free press.

Trump, himself, has suggested opening up libel laws, in order to silence outlets that don’t coddle him or praise him sufficiently.

“Look, I think Vladimir Putin has done some terrible things, and there’s been some speculation and conjecture of what’s taken place inside the Kremlin,” Lewandowski said. “What we do know is that, when there are times to work together to defeat the biggest crisis of our lifetime right now, which is ISIS, we should be working with our adversaries.”

There’s a place for working with them, in order to achieve a worthy goal, but you keep leaders like Putin at an arm’s length, at least, and you never trust them, or give the impression that they are anything more than what they are: Dangerous.