Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D), apparently still transfixed by the Trump-Russia "collusion" hoax, told CNN that if Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted Alaska back, President Donald Trump "would give it to him today."
Talking about the 2020 presidential race on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Dean said, "I used to say it all of the time, and now it has a new meaning, but if you are not tough enough to get through this process, what are you going to do when Putin asks for Alaska back?"
"Well, unfortunately, we have a president who would give it to him today," said Dean.
The Russian government sold the Alaska territory to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million (approximately $125 million in 2020 dollars). It became the 49th state of the union on Jan. 3, 1959.
Howard Dean, a left-wing Democrat, was the governor of Vermont from August 1991 to January 2003. Dean endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 despite the fact that his fellow Vermonter, Bernie Sanders (I), a self-described socialist, also ran for the presidential nomination in 2016.
