Donald Trump’s campaign “reaffirmed its extraordinary embrace of Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, signaling a preference for the leadership of an authoritarian adversary over that of America’s own president, despite a cascade of criticism from Democrats and expressions of discomfort among Republicans,” the New York Times reports.

Said Gov. Mike Pence: “I think it’s inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country.”

First Read: “What’s amazing about the Trump campaign’s embrace of Putin, even from Pence, is that Putin is one of the more reviled figures among American voters.”

“Vladimir Putin blasted both Donald Trump’s and Hillary Clinton’s tactics on the campaign trail but refused to publicly take sides in a U.S. presidential race in which he’s been accused of secretly favoring the New York real estate billionaire,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Putin: “They’re both using shock tactics, just each in their own way. I don’t think they are setting the best example.”

He added: “All this should be more dignified.”

New York Times: “Now the question has emerged in the United States election campaign whether Mr. Putin has opted — directly or covertly — to throw Russia’s support behind Mr. Trump. The conclusion by cybersecurity experts that Russian intelligence agencies breached the Democratic National Committee and released thousands of emails on the eve of the party’s convention prompted accusations from Democrats and some Republicans that Mr. Trump was a kind of ‘Siberian candidate,’ bolstered from abroad to undermine the nation.”

Time: “If the Kremlin has indeed begun interfering in the presidential race on Trump’s behalf, the bad blood between Putin and Clinton would seem like enough of a motivation. Putin’s list of grievances goes back a lot further than Clinton’s alleged support for the Russian protest movement.”