The Green Party’s Jill Stein says a recent spike in interest about a photo of her having dinner with Russian President Vladimir Putin can be traced to Democrats “looking for someone to blame” for their election struggles.
The photo, from late 2015, shows Stein seated at a table at a Moscow gala with Putin and Mike Flynn, who would go on to become the national security adviser to President Trump. It has been reported that Flynn was paid $45,000 to speak at the gala.
“Jill Stein Isn’t Sorry” she was part of Russian strategy to get trump elected. Here she is with Putin and Flynn in Moscow pic.twitter.com/3bNHqtNUQy
— United We Stand (@unitedweare23) June 20, 2017
AP Photo
Stein said she too delivered remarks in Moscow, but that her message calling for a “peace offensive” in the Middle East was largely ignored at the time.
“It’s now circulating. It’s funny, Michael, you have to ask why is that picture kicking up a storm right now?” Stein asked in a CNN interview shown on Saturday with host Michael Smerconish. Stein has said she barely spoke with either Flynn or Putin at the event. Flynn was fired by Trump earlier this year after it was revealed he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with a Russian envoy. He is now a leading figure in the federal and congressional probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
Stein pinned blame on the Democrats for making her inclusion in the photo an issue now, months after the presidential election, in which she was the Green Party’s nominee.
“I think it’s very related to the fact that the Democrats are looking for someone to blame,” she said. “They’re looking at [Democratic primary candidate and Sen.] Bernie Sanders. They’re looking at [former FBI Director] James Comey. They’re looking at me. Can they blame us for the loss of 1,000 legislative seats over the past ten years. For the loss of two-thirds of governors. For the loss of the recent special elections in Georgia? I don’t think so, I think the — Democrats really have to look internally. People have had it with being thrown under the bus.”
Stein also sought to shut down people who blame her for stealing votes away from Hillary Clinton, resulting in a Trump victory on Election Day.
“Hillary Clinton did not earn the votes of Greens,” she said, adding that both Clinton and Trump failed to attract the support of 45 percent of eligible voters who didn’t cast ballots in November.
.@DrJillStein: “Candidates have to earn our votes. And Hillary Clinton did not earn the votes of Greens” https://t.co/ErMib2KAwL— CNN (@CNN) June 24, 2017
Stein told Politico that she would be willing to testify before Congress about the 2015 trip to Moscow.
