Trump is walking back on his Russia comments, and Twitter won’t stand for it
It’s only been a day since Donald Trump’s now-infamous Helsinki news conference on July 16th, in which he stated that despite the evidence, he believed Vladimir Putin’s word over the U.S. intelligence community. Unsurprisingly, the president’s remarks have fueled sharp criticism on both sides of the political aisle, and now Trump is attempting to backpedal.
NPR reported today, July 17th, that in a meeting with Republican lawmakers, Trump said his comments in Finland boiled down to a simple misunderstanding. He claimed that he had meant to say he didn’t see any reason why it “wouldn’t” be Russia who meddled in the election but had misspoke and said “would.” The president added that he had “full faith” in the U.S. intelligence community, which has found that Russian agents attempted to affect the election.
"I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place," Trump said, according to CNBC. But then he continued: "Could be other people also. A lot of people out there. But there was no collusion."
Trump’s tone was noticeably different than the evening before, when he made an appearance on the Fox News show Hannity. At the time — which, as it should be noted, was directly after his initial comments about Putin — Trump again referred to the Russia investigation as a “witch hunt” and claimed he took Putin at his word.
Trump begins interview w/Hannity by touting that Putin cleared him of collusion & said he doesn't have blackmail material.
"First of all, he said there was no collusion whatsoever. They have no information on Trump… I thought that President Putin was very, very strong." #lulz pic.twitter.com/nKIGYcGFkc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 17, 2018
Later, the president tweeted “the Fake News is going Crazy” about his comments on Russia.
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/1019225830298456066
However, Twitter isn’t buying it.
Don’t forget that Trump gave an interview with Hannity right after the #HelsinkiSummit (and before he could see covering if it hitting the fan) in which he reiterate pretty much everything he said in the press conference. HE DID NOT MISSPEAK! pic.twitter.com/Vu5ooa0CpU
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) July 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/1019298666782306305
If Trump believes the intel community assessment that it was Russia, then the Mueller investigation that keeps producing indictments of Russians is not a witch hunt, right? The two are inextricably linked.
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) July 17, 2018
Others acknowledged that Trump’s new position is still concerning.
Trump: "I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place."
aides: [sigh of relief]
Trump: "Could be other people also. There's a lot of people out there."
aides: god what.
— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) July 17, 2018
Folks – read his words. Trump today is NOT saying Russia interfered in our election. He is simply saying he saw no reason why it would not be Russia that interfered in elections. That is no change in his ambiguity.
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) July 17, 2018
Trump contradicted himself in the same sentence, beginning by saying he “accepts” IC assessment Russia interfered in 2016 and ending by saying “it could be other people also”. IC and both parties agree: it was #Russia.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 17, 2018
Of course, some couldn’t resist getting sassy.
Next Trump excuse? "Well actually today is Opposite Day…" "I had my fingers crossed behind my back…" "I'm just testing the nation's patriotism…" #doublenegative
— Andrew Koz (@as_koz) July 17, 2018
Oh! So the official explanation is that he thought yesterday was opposite day. So glad it took him a whole day to explain that to the world. If this isn't it for the @gop then they can count themselves as willing participants in Trump's treason.
— Sari Beth Rosenberg (@saribethrose) July 17, 2018
i obviously meant to shout "I DON'T OBJECT" sorry that i ruined your wedding
— Alexandra Petri (@petridishes) July 17, 2018
false
Now Trump says that what he meant to say in Helsinki was that he saw no reason why it would
*NOT*
be Russia that interfered in elections😨
Those who believe him please call me I have bridges to sell
😂😂😂— SnoozyQ (@1SnoozyQ) July 17, 2018
Trump will next sit down with a white noise machine to tell his story straight
— Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin) July 17, 2018
The same Republicans defending Trump's complete 180 on Russia refused to let Obama off the hook for accidentally saying "57 states."
— jordan (@JordanUhl) July 17, 2018
Regardless of what the president meant to say at the Helsinki conference, there is abundant evidence that Russia at least tried to influence our 2016 election. And it’s high time our POTUS acknowledges it.
