NEW YORK -- Donald Trump's candidacy for president of the United States may be a joke to some, but no one will be laughing if he is actually elected.
Just ask Maria Alekhina, aka Masha of Pussy Riot.
When informed that her country's president, Vladimir Putin, had called Trump "brilliant," she told The Huffington Post, "When Putin came to his first term or second term, nobody [in Russia] actually thought that this is serious. Everybody was joking about it. And nobody could imagine that after five, six years, we would have a war in Ukraine, annexation of Crimea, and these problems in Syria," in which Russia has become involved.
"Everybody [is] joking about Donald Trump now, but it's a very short way from joke to sad reality when you have a really crazy president speaking about breaking every moral and logic norm. So I hope that he will not be president. That's very simple."
She also challenged the media for how much coverage it's given to the questionable ideas and strategies Trump has offered on the campaign trail.
"You have to seriously think about giving a microphone and opportunity of public speaking to persons like Donald Trump. Because we have so many serious problems, and to follow and comment [on] every word of this man is really not the best idea."
Alekhina, who as a member of Pussy Riot is currently taking part in the "Recycling Religion" group art show at SoHo's WhiteBox Art Center, offered this advice to American voters: "If you want in your country to have your own Putin, you can vote for Donald Trump."
