Fox News’ Sean Hannity condemned Republicans who have spoken out against President Trump openly expressing doubt about Russia meddling in the 2016 election during a press conference after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.
“Every single person on the list that they’re calling a conservative is not a conservative,” Hannity, who has a Fox News interview with Trump that will air later Monday, said on his afternoon radio program. “Every single one has been a never-Trumper, a huge Trump critic.”
“These Republicans have been so pathetically weak, they have been so feckless, they have been so visionless, they have been so uninspiring, they can’t keep the simplest of promises, and the only reason that there’s not a massive blue wave developing … is because Donald Trump has single-handedly dragged them all kicking and screaming,” he added.
Hannity conceded that Trump “maybe” should have pressed Putin harder, but added Trump was probably more focused on other issues, such as nuclear proliferation and Islamic terrorism. Hannity also noted that the Russian interference occurred during the Obama administration.
Trump cast doubt on whether the Russian government meddled in the 2016 U.S. election during a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. He told reporters that Putin said the Russian government was not to blame, which stands in contrast to a report from the U.S. intelligence community that determined last year that Russia agents were responsible for interfering in the election.
[Also read: Trump’s own intelligence chief distances himself from Russian meddling comments]
Trump also defended himself and claimed that there was “no collusion” from his campaign with the Kremlin.
The comments elicited a wave of backlash from political figures on both sides of the aisle, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
“Today’s press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory,” McCain said in a statement. “The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naivete, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake.”
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced on Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the ongoing Russia probe on Russian interference in the 2016 election, indicted 12 Russian officials on charges of engaging “in a sustained effort” to break into computers owned by Democrats in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
