NEW YORK, September 7. /TASS/. Former US President, Republican nominee Donald Trump said he was offended by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ironic comment about supporting US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

Earlier, the Russian leader said ironically that after incumbent US President Joe Biden "had been withdrawn" from the presidential race, Moscow came "to back" his successor Kamala Harris. Putin indicated that "the choice is up to the American people."

"I knew Putin. I knew him well. And you know, he endorsed, I don't know if you saw the other day, he endorsed Kamala. He endorsed Kamala. I was very offended by that. I wonder why he endorsed Kamala. Now, he's a chess player," Trump said at a rally in Wisconsin, adding that it could have been done jokingly.

Trump has previously described Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan as world-class chess players.