A growing number of Republicans are calling on President Donald Trump to take swift action Tuesday to embrace the U. S. intelligence community's findings about Russian interference in the 2016…
A growing number of Republicans are calling on President Donald Trump to take swift action Tuesday to embrace the U. S. intelligence community’s findings about Russian interference in the 2016 election and limit the damage of a widely panned performance in Helsinki.
On morning television shows and social media, several Trump supporters offered similar advice: that Trump explain to the nation why he appeared to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin instead of the U. S. intelligence team at Tuesday’s news conference.
“He’s got to speak out about it, and he’s got to reverse course immediately,” former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said during an appearance on CNN. “The optics of this situation are a disaster.… If he doesn’t reverse course on this, he will eventually lose people who want to support him.”
Scaramucci, who said he still considers himself loyal to Trump, recommended that the president huddle with “his smartest, most loyal aides” and craft a statement making clear he understands there was Russian interference in the election.
Trump could do that while continuing to insist there was no collusion between the Russians and his campaign, Scaramucci said.
Around 9 a.m. Tuesday, Trump spoke out about the summit for the first time since returning to Washington, taking to Twitter to thank Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., one of the few prominent Republicans who have defended his peformance at Monday’s remarkable 46-minute joint news conference.
Standing next to Putin, Trump would not challenge the Russian leader’s claim that his government played no role in trying to sabotage the U. S. election, despite the Justice Department’s indictments Friday of 12 Russian intelligence officers.
Trump’s performance during the news conference prompted a wave of condemnation, including from many in his own party.
“It was a really bad day for the president,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said Tuesday morning on CNN. “I think President Trump was wrong yesterday in a major way, and I think it was a very embarrassing press conference.”
Kinzinger said Trump needed to speak to the nation about what happened — in person and not on Twitter.
“You need to come out today and very much clarify this,” he said. Related Articles
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Kinzinger’s pleading echoed former House speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican who typically defends Trump.
“President Trump must clarify his statements in Helsinki on our intelligence system and Putin,” Gingrich wrote on Twitter Monday. “It is the most serious mistake of his presidency and must be corrected — immediately.”
Trump has no public events on his schedule Tuesday, but he is scheduled to meet behind closed doors in the afternoon with lawmakers from the Ways and Means Committee to discuss taxes.
