The joint press conference with Donald Trump and Vladmir Putin after their one-on-one meeting, a meeting in which Donald Trump insisted there be no note-takers to record their conversation, has been nothing short of a disaster for America and democracy. Before the pair even got started, a reporter was forcibly hauled out by security. Trump and Putin eventually took their respective podiums to begin taking questions and Donald Trump’s responses were shocking, chilling, unpatriotic and downright dangerous. Former CIA Director John Brennan called the performance “nothing short of treasonous.” Jump below to see why.
Harsh words from John Brennan, but here’s why: Donald Trump took Putin’s side and bashed everyone from U.S. Intelligence services to Hillary Clinton, placing blame on everyone but Russia, despite unequivocal evidence Russia has launched an attack on America. Watch a reporter ask Donald Trump very directly to use this public opportunity to rebuke Russia’s actions during the 2016 campaign.
Pentagon reporter and security expert Kevin Baron was exasperated.
Putin took a question about interference in the American election and he used the opportunity to make a baseless attack on Hillary Clinton, spreading a false conspiracy, something an eager Donald Trump latched onto as well.
Steven Pifer, a nuclear arms control expert and former United States Ambassador to Ukraine weighed in, calling Trump’s performance “bad” and “embarrassing.”
Asked whether Putin has blackmail on Donald Trump, he didn’t even deny it. Furthermore, he low-key slammed Donald Trump saying that he wasn’t aware he was even in Moscow at the time of the Miss Whatever pageant Trump was hosting. Translation: Trump wasn’t even important enough to be on my radar.
When Putin was asked about the election interference by another reporter, Trump intercepted the question and went on a bizarre rant about the electoral college and his amazing win. Seriously!
As Greg Sargent noted, what we witnessed today is ongoing collusion. The collusion never ended. It is very much still happening.
In the end, former CIA Director John Brennan has a great point: Where are you, Republicans? Where is your patriotism? This nation is heading down a dark path, one of the darkest in history, and you stand idly by, content to count your tax cut money and ignore the threat at our doorstep.
