House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday that it is “beyond belief” that President Trump would invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington for a follow-up meeting, and warned Putin should never be invited to address a joint session of Congress.
“The notion that President Trump would invite a tyrant to Washington is beyond belief,” Pelosi said in a statement. “Putin’s ongoing attacks on our elections and on Western democracies and his illegal actions in Crimea and the rest of Ukraine deserve the fierce, unanimous condemnation of the international community, not a VIP ticket to our nation’s capital.”
“President Trump’s frightened fawning over Putin is an embarrassment, and a grave threat to our democracy,” Pelosi said. “An invitation to address a Joint Meeting of Congress should be bipartisan and Speaker Ryan must immediately make clear that there is not – and never will be – an invitation for a thug like Putin to address the United States Congress.”
[Opinion: Trump-Putin the sequel would be worse than the original]
A spokesperson for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., poured cold water on talk of an appearance on Capitol Hill by Putin for an address to a joint session, all-the-while taking a shot at Pelosi for even bringing up the possibility of one taking place.
“The only one talking about inviting Putin to address Congress is Nancy Pelosi,” said AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan.
Pelosi’s comment comes a day after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that discussions are underway between the White House and Moscow about a possible visit in the fall. Talk between the national security staffs also continue to maintain a dialogue after the Monday summit.
