President Trump on Monday dropped another bomb on the Republicans’ shaky midterm election prospects with a bizarre joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin that followed private bilateral talks in Helsinki.

Trump aligned himself with a defiant Putin and against U.S. intelligence agencies’ consensus assessment that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election — and largely blamed the U.S. for Washington’s long-strained relationship with Moscow. The president’s performance was roundly condemned by Republicans in Congress, and sparked fresh anxiety about November.