Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy said Americans needs to realize the Russian meddling campaign in the 2016 elections is not about President Trump or Hillary Clinton, but is instead about an attack on the country.
Gowdy said on CBS’ “Face The Nation” similar activities will happen in the future as long as partisanship continues to divide the nation and Americans don’t show a united front against Russia.
“I have known all along that Russia tried to subvert our 2016 election. They’re going to do the same thing in 2020 and every election thereafter unless, and until, we do what the indictment said, which is we view this as America being the victim,” he said.
“And this particular instance they used the Clinton campaign. They tried to disparage her campaign. Next cycle it could be Republican. But Americans are the victims of what Russia did. Not Republicans, not Democrats. All of us are victims.”
He added that companies like Facebook and Twitter need to do more to keep their platforms free from disinformation campaigns.
“I can’t imagine how we benefit from someone perpetuating lies,” he said.
“That’s a First Amendment issue when you begin to regulate information, and I happen to believe in something called the truth. I actually believe that certain things are true and not true. But I couldn’t even get the media giants to agree to that. That’s a First Amendment issue, I would tell all my fellow citizens be really skeptical of anything you read on social media and do your own independent research.”
