Despite years of peddling allegations of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, CNN Host Fareed Zakaria admitted that “the Trump Administration was pretty tough on the Russians.”

Speaking on January 1st on the network’s New Day program, Zakaria described the Trump administration’s conduct with Russia as “tough,” noting the various actions taken by the president in the country:

“You know, the dirty little secret about the Trump administration was that while Donald Trump had clearly had a kind of soft spot for Putin, the Trump Administration was pretty tough on the Russians. They armed Ukraine, they armed the Poles. They extended NATO operations and exercises in ways that even the Obama Administration had not done. They maintained the sanctions.”

Zakaria’s comments – at odds with over four years of CNN programming depicting President Trump as a “Russian asset” – come as he posits a potential Biden administration wouldn’t be “that different” from President Trump on the issue of Russia.

“I think in general, there isn’t going to be as much difference as people imagine. The Biden folks are pretty tough on Russia, Iran, North Korea. […] So I don’t think it will be that different,” he notes.

In May of 2017, Zakaria peddled a polar opposite theory, insisting President Trump is “so nice” to the Russians:

The central puzzle of Trump’s worldview and foreign policy, from the start of the campaign to now, has been very simple. Why is he so nice to the Russians? Right.