Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a press conference today. Americans – Democrats & Republicans, Liberals & Conservatives, Red States & Blue States, and ‘Independents’ across the nation – should be worried, angry and fed up.
Here are a few reactions:
“Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors’. It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???” – John O. Brennan, former Director of the CIA from March 2013 to January 2017, (25-year career in CIA). Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and Assistant to President Obama (16 July 2018)
“One of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant”. – Senator John McCain (R-AZ) (16 July 2018)
“There is no way after the #TrumpPutinSummit that our @POTUS should have any security clearance issued by the US government. It’s time to investigate Donald Trump for treason against the United States. RT if you agree! #TreasonSummit” – VoteVets (@votevets) (16 July 2018 via Twitter)
“Hi, I know you broke into my home, stole stuff, and left a mess, but I was hoping we could move past that by working together on my home security system. Said no one EVER. #TrumpPutin.” –
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) (@RepSwalwell) (16 July 2018 via Twitter)
‘One Of The Most Disgraceful Performances Ever By An American President’ – Anderson Cooper, CNN (16 July 2018)
“Disgusting” – Fox Business host Neil Cavuto on Trump’s behavior at the presser. ( 16 July 2018)
“The president clearly sides with Putin. He is wrong. He is wrong on the facts, and most importantly, he is weak. This is cowardly”. – Nicholas Burns, former U.S. ambassador to NATO under President George W. Bush (16 July 2018)
“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”. – Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) (16 July 2018)
“President Trump failed America today. He failed America, our interests today, in every way. Sad day for America. Sad day for the world”. – Former Republican Senator (and Defense Secretary under Obama) Chuck Hagel on CNN. (16 July 2018)
“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”. – House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) (16 July 2018)
“It’s the most shameful day for American foreign policy since the end of World War II.” – John Weaver, ran John Kasich’s bid for the GOP presidential nomination (16 July 2018)
“The damage Trump inflicted today on America’s image, credibility, and respect around the globe will be long-lasting.” – Ned Price, former CIA analyst and a National Security Council spokesman under President Barack Obama. (16 July 2018)
“Having spent almost a decade as an undercover officer in the CIA, having spent my time here in Congress working with our allies across the world who have to face the Russian menace – I’ve seen Russian intelligence manipulate many people in my career and I never thought the US President would be one of them. I actually believe that press conference was disinformation. It was very clear what their attempts were to undergird our democratic institutions.” – Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) former CIA agent (16 July 2018)
“Look, I’m no big deal, but today is the final straw for me. I will never support Trump again. If that makes me a NeverTrumper, so be it. I am a tea party conservative, that will never change. But Trump was a traitor to this country today. That must not be accepted. Speak out.” – Former Congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL) (16 July 2018 via Twitter)
“We are living in a national emergency. We may not have known it 24 hours ago. We do now. I have been studying and writing about presidents since I was 20 years old. I never thought I would live to say this: This is a president who demonstrated he deserves suspicion as acting on behalf of another country other than his own.” – Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss (16 July 2018)
Asked by a reporter if he holds Russia at all responsible for interfering in the 2016 presidential election, his response was to first bash Democrats,
Then:
“He just said it’s not Russia… I don’t see any reason why it would be”.
“I hold both countries responsible. I think the US has been foolish. I think we have all been foolish.”
“…President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today”
President of The United States of America, Donald J. Trump (16 July 2018)
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children” First Nations proverb.
