The striking visual was broadcast live across the country: President Trump standing alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, refusing to condemn the Russian leader for his government’s interference in the 2016 election. Democrats lunged, seeing an opening to get voters to care about the Trump-Russia controversy.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., immediately asked what compromising information Putin had on Trump to make the president act “so afraid.”

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