Senate Republicans slammed President Trump Monday over his claim that the U.S. is partly to blame for the soured relationship with Russia.
Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., took Trump to task for that claim, which he made during his joint press conference alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin when asked if believes U.S. intelligence officials who say that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, or Putin, who said that never happened.
“I never thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression,” Flake tweeted. “This is shameful.”
“This is bizarre and flat-out wrong,” Sasse said in a statement. “The United States is not to blame. America wants a good relationship with the Russian people but Vladimir Putin and his thugs are responsible for Soviet-style aggression.”
“When the president plays these moral equivalence games, he gives Putin a propaganda win he desperately needs,” Sasse added.
[More: Trump dismisses Russian election meddling, doesn’t see ‘any reason’ for it]
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said that the president should rely on what the intelligence community says about the Russian meddling and that the remarks were a “missed opportunity” on Trump’s part
“Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Our nation’s top intelligence agencies all agree on that point,” Hatch said in a statement. “From the President on down, we must do everything in our power to protect our democracy…by securing future elections from foreign influence and interference, regardless of what Vladimir Putin or any other Russian operative says.”
“I trust the good work of our intelligence and law enforcement personnel who have sworn to protect the United States of America from enemies foreign and domestic,” Hatch said.
Graham called the remarks on meddling in the 2016 election will be viewed as a “sign of weakness” from Moscow.
“Missed opportunity by President Trump to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling and deliver a strong warning regarding future elections,” Graham in a series of tweets. “This answer by President Trump will be seen by Russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it solves.”
Putin gave Trump a soccer ball from the World Cup that just wrapped up in Moscow on Sunday during the middle of the press conference. Graham said that he would “never allow it” in the White House and would check it for listening devices.
When asked about Russia’s election meddling during the press conference, Trump said he has not found a compelling reason why the Russians would have interfered in the 2016 election. He also said Putin was “very powerful” in his denial of meddling at that time.
[Also read: Robert Mueller indicts 12 Russian officers for election meddling, hacking into Clinton’s emails]
