Nebraska Republican Ben Sasse on Wednesday slammed the White House’s refusal to condemn the fraudulence of Russia’s election, describing the dodge as a break “with basic American moral tradition.”
The criticism comes after President Donald Trump phoned Russian leader Vladimir Putin Tuesday and congratulated him on his re-election, which has been widely described as rigged. Deepening the controversy, the White House avoided a question later that day about whether it viewed Russia’s election as “free and fair.”
“We don’t get to dictate how other countries operate,” Sarah Sanders told reporters. “What we do know is that Putin has been elected in their country, and that’s not something that we can dictate to them how they operate.”
In a Senate floor speech Wednesday, Sasse said Sanders was wrong to sidestep a question about the integrity of Russia’s elections, a question to which he said the world already knows the answer.
“Yesterday, when the White House refused to speak directly and clearly about this matter, we were weakened as a nation and a tyrant was strengthened,” he said. “The dodge on Putin broke with the basic American moral tradition. It broke faith with our core values. It broke trust with freedom seekers across the globe.”
He continued: “To those who struggle, we have always said, ‘we see you, and we stand with you.’ These simple truths matter. The moral responsibilities of the office of the presidency matter, and when we don’t affirm these basic truths, it is a failure to who we are. It is a failure to do what we do, and it is a betrayal, not just to the millions of people who are denied free and fair elections in Russia this week, but it is a failure to people all across the globe who are struggling in darkness against tyrants.”
Trump defended the call Wednesday in a pair of tweets.
I called President Putin of Russia to congratulate him on his election victory (in past, Obama called him also). The Fake News Media is crazed because they wanted me to excoriate him. They are wrong! Getting along with Russia (and others) is a good thing, not a bad thing…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018
In his second tweet he listed potential areas of cooperation with the Kremlin, including Syria, where Russia is backing leader Bashar al-Assad, and Ukraine, where Russia is bolstering separatists to the east.
A number of other Republicans have criticized Trump’s congratulatory phone call. Arizona senator John McCain said in a statement that “an American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections.”
Responding to McCain’s statement Tuesday, Sanders said that the president wants to maintain a dialogue with Russia and cooperate on shared interests, but that the administration will also push back on Russia when necessary. Sanders added that President Barack Obama made a similar call to Putin in 2012, and that Germany and France have also called the Russian leader.
Russian election meddling, the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the U.K. earlier this month, and the integrity of Russia’s elections did not come during Tuesday’s call, she said.
Sasse on Wednesday simultaneously condemned the leak of information about briefing materials prepared for Trump ahead of his call, which a Washington Post report said contained a pointed warning from the president’s national security advisers: “DO NOT CONGRATULATE.”
“Leaks like this weaken us, both at home in terms of public trust in our institutions and our public servants, and they weaken us abroad,” said Sasse. He advised those that feel compelled to resign to do so, and to make the case against a certain policy publicly, rather than engaging in targeted leaks.
And, addressing his fellow senators, Sasse said that it is possible to condemn both the call and the leaks.
“We ought not in this body find it difficult to say basic true things like, ‘we condemn leaks by the president’s staff against him.’ ‘We also condemn Vladimir Putin’s sham election,’” he said. “‘We condemn a Russian despot that aims to make Soviet tyranny great again.’”
