Yesterday, Trump said he believes ex-KGB colonel and RussianPresident Vladimir Putin over US intelligence agencies on thetopic of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Trump went so faras calling US intelligence a bunch “politicalhacks”. Republican Senator John McCain, an increasingly vocalcritic of Trump, blasted Trump, questioning Trump’s patriotism andcalling him “naive”.
McCain posted the following statement on hisSenate website:
President Trump today stated that he believed Vladimir Putin isbeing sincere when he denies Russian interference in the 2016presidential election and reiterated that he hopes to cooperatewith Russia in Syria.
There’s nothing ‘America First’ about taking the word of a KGBcolonel over that of the American intelligence community. There’sno ‘principled realism’ in cooperating with Russia to prop up themurderous Assad regime, which remains the greatest obstacle to apolitical solution that would bring an end to the bloodshed inSyria. Vladimir Putin does not have America’s interests at heart.To believe otherwise is not only naive but also places our nationalsecurity at risk.
He echoed this message on Twitter:
There’s nothing “America First” about takingthe word of KGB colonel over US intelligence community. There’s no”principled realism” in cooperating w/ Russia to prop up murderousAssad regime. To believe otherwise is naive & places nat’l securityat risk. https://t.co/SYiVHtHXPX
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) November 11, 2017
I commend John McCain for speaking out against Trump’s desire tomake the US a puppet state of Russia, but where are the rest of theRepublicans? Trump is being duped by Vladimir Putin, and the restof the GOP seems happy to keep quiet in hopes of being able to cuttaxes for the rich. When will the rest of thesesycophants stand up with McCain, Corker, and Flake and do whatis right for the country? How far does Trump have to go before theywill act?
