Republican Lawmakers Rebuke Trump after Putin Press Conference

National Review ^ | July 16, 2018 | MAIREAD MCARDLE

[reaganaut1]

Republican lawmakers were left shaking their heads after President Trump’s Monday’s press conference with Russian president Vladimir Putin, in which Trump declined to endorse the American intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.) called it “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory” and a “tragic mistake” in a statement. “No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant,” McCain said. “The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate.”

House speaker Paul Ryan also rebuked Trump, asserting that there is “no question” Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. “The president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally,” Ryan said. “There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals.”

Senator Jeff Flake, a frequent critic of the president, called the press conference “shameful” and said Trump “placed blame on the United States for Russian aggression.”

Another outspoken critic, Senator Bob Corker, said he does want America to have a good relationship with Russia but thinks Trump made the U.S. look “more like a pushover.”

Senator Lindsey Graham called the summit a “missed opportunity” to hold Russia responsible for trying to undermine U.S. elections.

Staunch Trump ally Orrin Hatch issued a statement unequivocally blaming Russia for election meddling.

“From the President on down, we must do everything in our power to protect our democracy by securing future elections from foreign influence and interference, regardless of what Vladimir Putin or any other Russian operative says,” the Utah senator said.

[miss marmelstein]

Yeah. I don’t like cowardly trolls.

[so_real]

If John McCain, Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, and Jeff Flake put their heads together and decide that I have done something wrong, I will wear it like a badge of honor on my breast pocket. Throw in John Brennan and Chuck Schumer and a host of liberal democrats and I am positively glowing with pride. You can't be in the "right" without cheesing-off the people in the "wrong". The folks in the middle just don't get that bent out of shape.