Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a speech in Saint Petersburg on June 17, 2016. / AFP / OLGA MALTSEVA (Photo credit should read OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP/Getty Images)
In a press conference in which Donald Trump encouraged Russia to “hack” Hillary Clinton’s emails, according to CNN, Trump also suggested that Vladimir Putin had used the “n” word to refer to the American president, Barack Obama.
Trump claimed that Putin doesn’t respect the United States and implied that Putin once called Obama the term, said CNN. The Daily Caller quoted Trump as saying, “He mentioned the n-word one time. I was shocked to hear him mention the n-word. You know what the n-word is, right? He mentioned it. I was shocked.”
The Trump press conference comes in the wake of numerous press reports that Russian intelligence may be behind the WikiLeaks’ document dump of Democratic National Committee emails, which sparked the resignation of party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz after the emails revealed top DNC officials appearing to favor Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders during the primary.
Is it true? Did Putin use the “n” word to refer to Obama?
Here’s what you need to know:
1. There Was a Previous Report That Putin Used The N Word’ But It Referred to ‘Nuclear’
In 2015, The Conservative Tribune ran a story with the headline, “While Talking ISIS Strategy, Putin Just Dropped The ‘N’ Word… This Could Change EVERYTHING.”
However, that story makes it clear the site was referring to the word “nuclear,” not the racially derogatory slur. During his press conference on July 27, Trump did not explain which “n” word he meant, although many were taking it to mean the racial slur.
The Conservative Tribune story said that “Russian President Vladimir Putin has not ruled out the possibility of deploying nuclear warheads when dealing with the Islamic State group, but he hoped it would never come that.” The site concluded that Obama needed to be as tough on terrorists as Putin.
2. The Media Says There Are No Published Reports of Putin Calling Obama a Racial Slur
President Obama with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. (Getty)
CNN said the network could find “no published reports to back up Trump’s claim about Putin’s use of the racially derogatory term.” According to the Daily Caller, Trump has called himself “stablemates” with Putin and said repeatedly that America needs Russia to perceive it as strong.
The Independent says that Trump has downplayed having any affection for Trump, while saying that America is not respected by Russia and needs to be perceived as strong by Putin.
3. Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Is Criticizing Trump For What it Says Is Trump Encouraging Espionage By Russia
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses the final night of the Republican National Convention. (Getty)
Specifically, at the news conference, Trump urged Russia to find “the 30,000 emails that are missing” from Clinton’s personal server, said Politico. The Washington Post said urging Russia to spy on Clinton could cause many problematic scenarios, such as opening Clinton to blackmail. The Clinton campaign responded, “This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent.”
Watch:
Trump repeated his claims on Twitter:
If Russia or any other country or person has Hillary Clinton’s 33,000 illegally deleted emails, perhaps they should share them with the FBI!
“It would be interesting to see, I will tell you this, Russia, if you’re listening I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press,” Politico quoted Trump as saying. The Washington Post has a transcript of the news conference here.
Newt Gingrich has defended Trump in the wake of the criticism:
Since Hillary promised us she only deleted 33,000 personal emails how can it be a national security issue if someone releases them?
4. U.S. Officials & Other Experts Say There is Evidence That Russia Hacked The DNC Emails
RELEASE: 19,252 emails from the US Democratic National Committee t.co/kpFxYDoNyX #Hillary2016 #FeelTheBern
In the days before the Trump press conference on Russia, media outlets reported that U.S. officials and Internet security experts increasingly suspect that Russia is behind the hack. NBC News reported that: “Many U.S. officials and cyber security experts in and out of government are convinced that state-sponsored Russian hackers are the ones who stole 20,000 emails from the Democratic National Committee.”
NBC News said there was circumstantial and forensic evidence to back up the unproven claim that Russia is behind the hack. WikiLeaks, which released the emails, has denied being affiliated with Russia but refused to release its sources. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said there was “no proof” of a Russian hack.
In the news conference, Trump denied that he has ever met Putin and said he is not in debt to Russian lenders, said The Los Angeles Times.
5. A Shadowy Hacker Named ‘Guccifer 2.0’ Claims He Hacked The Democratic Server
Guccifer 2.0’s Twitter logo. (Twitter/@GUCCIFER_2)
A hacktivist who calls himself Guccifer 2.0 and has a Twitter account and blog claims that he hacked the DNC emails and says he has nothing to do with Russia. However, some experts think Guccifer 2.0 is a front for Russian intelligence.
Guccifer 2.0 – who is not the same as the original Romanian hacker named “Guccifer” – appeared on the scene after security experts publicly pointed toward Russia as possibly being behind the DNC hack. Read more:
