When Donald Trump met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and the two leaders fielded some questions from the press, the discussion predictably turned to Russia and the war in Ukraine. The American president took the opportunity to do what he often does: express sympathy for Vladimir Putin.
“We had to go through the Russian hoax together,” the Republican said, referring to himself and the Russian leader. Trump added that the Russia scandal “had nothing to do with Russia” — days later, I still don’t know what that meant — and that the underlying controversy was “a phony story that was made up.”
Roughly 24 hours later, as part of his Oval Office debacle with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump managed to say something new about the scandal. The Washington Post reported:
“Let me tell you: Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” Trump said. “He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia. Russia, Russia, Russia. You ever hear of that deal? That was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam. … And he had to go through that.”
At this point, I could write several paragraphs explaining that the Russia scandal was not “phony,” no matter how many times Republicans claim otherwise. I could also go into detail, highlighting the overwhelming evidence from the investigations launched by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee, both of which documented the extent to which Trump and his team welcomed, received, and benefited from Russian assistance in the 2016 campaign.
I could similarly remind readers that Team Trump obstructed the investigation into this assistance — by some measures, 10 times. I could note that Trump and his operation repeatedly lied about their interactions with Russia during the 2016 race. I could even reiterate the fact that a Senate Intelligence Committee’s report — written in part by the panel’s then-Republican majority — at one point literally described a “direct tie between senior Trump Campaign officials and the Russian intelligence services.”
But I’m going to assume readers already know this. Let’s instead note what was new about the American president’s unscripted remarks from Friday. As a Washington Post analysis noted about the Republican’s claim, “It was an extraordinary comment. Trump has gone further than the evidence suggests in claiming his own exoneration in the Russia investigation. But here he was suggesting Putin also had been wronged in the process.” There is voluminous and unchallenged evidence that the Russian leader launched an intelligence operation targeting the American political system for the express purpose of influencing the outcome of a presidential election. Even if one were inclined to put aside questions of cooperation and “collusion” — no one should put these questions aside, of course, but just for the sake of conversation — Putin’s intelligence operation itself represented an extraordinary attack on the United States. Years later, Trump would have Americans believe that Putin was the victim of the attack that he perpetrated. That isn’t just wrong, it’s insane.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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