Members of Congress — including some powerful Republicans — were quick to rebuke President Trump’s performance on the world stage and Trump’s refusal to call Putin out for interfering in the US election.
Sen. John McCain calls President Donald Trump’s press conference “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.”
The Arizona Republican says the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki was “a tragic mistake.”
The senator says Trump proved not only unable, “but unwilling to stand up to Putin.” And he said Trump and Putin “seemed to be speaking from the same script” as Trump made a “conscious choice to defend a tyrant.”
McCain, who has been away from the Senate as he battles brain cancer, said the damage inflicted by Trump’s “naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan contradicted several comments Trump made during his Helsinki news conference, most notably backing the US intelligence community assessment that Russia meddled with the US 2016 presidential election.
“There is no question that Russia interfered in our election and continues attempts to undermine democracy here and around the world,” said Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, in a statement. “That is not just the finding of the American intelligence community but also the House Committee on Intelligence.”
Ryan continued, “The president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally. There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals. The United States must be focused on holding Russia accountable and putting an end to its vile attacks on democracy.”
The second-ranking Republican in the Senate, Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, told CNN he backed the intelligence community.
“I don’t know (whether) the President is trying to use some sort of carrots and stick approach with Putin but I believe the intelligence community,” Cornyn told CNN, adding that the recent indictments from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe are “spot on.”
Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who has consistently criticized the President, said Trump’s comments were “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.”
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker said the President “made us look like a pushover” and that Putin was probably eating caviar on the plane home.
“I was very disappointed and saddened with the equivalency that he gave between them (the US intelligence agencies) and what Putin was saying,” said Corker, a Tennessee Republican who is not seeking re-election.
Trump’s comments that appeared to equivocate Putin’s denial of Russian election meddling and the US intelligence community’s assessment were commonly evoked in the steady stream of criticism. Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, issued a blistering statement just minutes after the press conference wrapped.
Sasse rebuked Trump’s statement that he held “both countries responsible” for the deteriorated relationship between the United States and Russia.
“This is bizarre and flat-out wrong. The United States is not to blame. America wants a good relationship with the Russian people but Vladimir Putin and his thugs are responsible for Soviet-style aggression,” Sasse said in the statement. “When the President plays these moral equivalence games, he gives Putin a propaganda win he desperately needs.”
Some Republicans ‘deeply troubled’ by Trump
Some Republicans in both the House and Senate — even some typically seen as allies to the President — said in the hours following the news conference that they were concerned over what they heard Monday.
“As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I am deeply troubled by President Trump’s defense of Putin against the intelligence agencies of the U.S. & his suggestion of moral equivalence between the U.S. and Russia. Russia poses a grave threat to our national security,” said Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican.
Rep. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican who was among the Republicans leading last week’s sharply partisan hearing of FBI agent Peter Strzok, made clear Monday he did not see Russia as a US ally.
“I am confident former CIA Director and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, DNI Dan Coats, Ambassador Nikki Haley, FBI Director Chris Wray, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and others will be able to communicate to the President it is possible to conclude Russia interfered with our election in 2016 without delegitimizing his electoral success,” Gowdy said in a statement.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina who has had a close working relationship with Trump on issues related to health care and tax reform, tweeted that the summit was a “missed opportunity.”
“Missed opportunity by President Trump to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling and deliver a strong warning regarding future elections,” Graham tweeted. “This answer by President Trump will be seen by Russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it solves.”
Graham also warned Trump to leave a soccer ball, a gift from Putin, outside of the White House.
“If it were me, I’d check the soccer ball for listening devices and never allow it in the White House,” Graham said.
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican who has been constant critic, called the President’s performance “shameful.”
“I never thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression. This is shameful,” tweeted Flake, who is not running for re-election.
Read McCain’s full statement below:
“Today’s press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake.
“President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world.
“It is tempting to describe the press conference as a pathetic rout – as an illustration of the perils of under-preparation and inexperience. But these were not the errant tweets of a novice politician. These were the deliberate choices of a president who seems determined to realize his delusions of a warm relationship with Putin’s regime without any regard for the true nature of his rule, his violent disregard for the sovereignty of his neighbors, his complicity in the slaughter of the Syrian people, his violation of international treaties, and his assault on democratic institutions throughout the world.
“Coming close on the heels of President Trump’s bombastic and erratic conduct towards our closest friends and allies in Brussels and Britain, today’s press conference marks a recent low point in the history of the American Presidency. That the president was attended in Helsinki by a team of competent and patriotic advisors makes his blunders and capitulations all the more painful and inexplicable.
“No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant. Not only did President Trump fail to speak the truth about an adversary; but speaking for America to the world, our president failed to defend all that makes us who we are—a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad. American presidents must be the champions of that cause if it is to succeed. Americans are waiting and hoping for President Trump to embrace that sacred responsibility. One can only hope they are not waiting totally in vain.”
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