BACKTRACKING PREZ KEEPS STUMBLING OVER RUSSIA
How bad is it?
So bad that Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Lively, best known for blaming the Holocaust on gay Nazis, gave it “two thumbs up.” So bad that Gov. Charlie Baker himself had to come out of his shell to condemn it.
And it’s so bad that President Trump actually had to backtrack and claim that he misspoke.
That’s just how much damage Trump did to his presidency with his embarrassing performance in Helsinki on Monday. Trump never admits he was wrong, so his attempt at a do-over yesterday — saying he meant to say he didn’t see a reason why Russia “wouldn’t” have interfered in the election, instead of “would” — is an indication that even he realizes he finally hit the wall.
Lively praised Trump yesterday in an email to supporters, but Baker, under pressure from Democrats to disavow Trump’s claims, did criticize the president — a day after the Trump-Putin summit press conference.
“On this particular issue, whether or not Russia sought to meddle in the U.S. election successfully or not, most people believe they did,” Baker told State House News Service. “Our intelligence officers believe they did and I think it’s disgraceful that the president didn’t acknowledge that.”
Baker likes reacting to Trump about as much as he likes a root
canal, but this time realized he had to respond, especially with Republicans all over the country joining in panning the president.
And while Trump’s triedand-true base will stick by him, most voters won’t easily forget watching the president get his hat handed to him by none other than Vladimir Putin, the former KGB agent and now head of the Evil Empire.
It was easily Trump’s worst moment as president, even if it wasn’t — as some over the top Democratic critics said, treasonable.
This wasn’t treason, it was just stubborn stupidity.
Trump can’t acknowledge that Russia interfered in the election, because that gives credence to the collusion crowd. So rather than back his own intelligence officers, he took the side of Putin.
It wasn’t just what Trump said in Helsinki, it was how he acted — like a supplicant to Putin — and that’s the most troubling part.
And it will now be etched as part of Trump’s presidency, no matter how many double negatives he tries to claim.