Fiorina: Putin and Trump ‘have a lot in common’

Carly Fiorina joked on Monday night that her GOP presidential rival Donald Trump shares similarities with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“[They] have a lot in common, actually,” she told host Jimmy Fallon on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” “But we’ll just leave it at that.”

{mosads}Fiorina discussed both men in greater detail during her wide-ranging interview.

She recalled meeting Putin, for example, during an economic policy conference in Beijing while serving as Hewlett-Packard’s CEO.

“I would describe him as a formidable adversary,” Fiorina said of Putin. “He’s very confident.

“He actually can be quite funny and charming, but he’s a KGB guy,” she added. “We should never forget this.”

Fiorina also defended her tenure as a technology executive following Trump’s criticisms that she damaged Hewlett-Packard’s credibility.

“I think those are Democratic and Trump talking points,” she said when Fallon asked if she had left the company “in disarray.”

“We went from losing market share to gaining market share,” Fiorina said. “By the time I left, we were the leader in every market segment, every product category and [we had] grown to 160,000 jobs.

“I will run on that track record all day long,” she added.

Fiorina additionally criticized GOP presidential contender, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, for declaring on Sunday that Muslims are unfit for the Oval Office.

“I think that’s wrong,” she said. “It says in our Constitution that religion cannot be a test for office.

“Whether it’s a person of Christian faith or Jewish faith or Muslim faith or other faiths, I think faith gives us humility, empathy and optimism,” Fiorina added. “I think those are important things.”