Trump Shocks at Putin Presser By Questioning Whether Russia Meddled in 2016 Election
AP reporter Jonathan Lemire asked some pretty direct questions to President Donald Trump at his presser with Vladimir Putin today:
“Just now, President Putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. Every U.S. intelligence agency has concluded that Russia did… Who do you believe? My second question is: would you now, with the whole world watching, tell President Putin––would you denounce what happened in 2016 and would you warn him to never do it again?”
Not only was Trump’s answer completely opposite of confrontational, but he immediately went after the FBI and made his answer about the DNC server.
He ranted a bit about the DNC server in front of Putin before saying, “All I can do is ask the question. My people came to me… they said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be, but I really do want to see the server.”
He kept going on about the DNC server and Hillary Clinton‘s emails, joking that “in Russia they wouldn’t be gone so easily.”
“I have great confidence in my intelligence people,” Trump said, “but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
The response stunned political reporters and even lawmakers in Trump’s own party, with responses varying in their outrage: former CIA director John Brennan called the presser “treasonous” and Sen. Jeff Flake called it “shameful.”
Watch above, via NBC.
[image via screengrab]
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