After over 24 hours of crippling bipartisan pressure, President Trump on Tuesday backtracked on his controversial press conference with Russian president Vladimir Putin in which he refused to endorse the American intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election.
Trump claimed he misspoke when he said he cannot see why Russia would be responsible for election meddling and meant to say he doesn't see why Russia "wouldn't" be responsible.
During Monday’s extraordinary press conference in Helsinki, Finland where he stood alongside Putin, however, Trump accepted Putin’s denial of election interference, sparking criticism among even some of the U.S. commander-in-chief’s staunchest supporters.
"He just said it's not Russia," he said of Putin’s private remarks during their one-on-one meeting. "I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."
"I have great confidence in my intelligence people but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," he stated.
The CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, and the House and Senate intelligence committees all concluded that Russia spearheaded a campaign to undermine the American democratic process and influence the 2016 presidential election.
"I accept" the conclusion of U.S. intelligence, the president told reporters on Tuesday before a private meeting with Republican leadership.
During the press conference, Putin denied Russia is in possession of damaging information on Trump and admitted he was hoping the president would win in 2016.
Trump’s backpedalling follows a day of almost universal condemnation of the president’s performance at Helsinki, critics calling it an “embarrassment” and “shameful,” some even branding it “treasonous.”
Senator Rand Paul emerged as one of the only defenders of Trump’s comments, and rebuked critics for being unfair to the president.
“When President Reagan met with Gorbachev do you think he listed the litany of Soviet abuses from Stalin on in a one to one meeting?” the Kentucky senator said.
“No, they were listed and recounted by other people in the administration. There’ve also been people within the Trump administration who have listed and recounted the human rights violations in Russia.”
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday offered some rare remarks on the issue, directly contradicting the president’s comments at the presser.
“We believe the European Union countries are our friends and the Russians are not,” the Republican leader said.
“They have demonstrated that in all the obvious ways over the last few years: the annexation of Crimea, the invasion of eastern Ukraine, not to mention the indisputable evidence that they tried to impact the 2016 election.”
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