On Monday, after President Trump sat down for a controversial meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, high-ranking politicians in the Republican party distanced themselves from the president, and words like “impeach” and “treason summit” were trending on social media.
The backlash against Trump happened, in part, because the president blamed America for the recent chill in US-Russian relations. In spite of a recent indictment which charges that Russian nationals plotted to interfere in the 2016 US election, Trump also said calmly that he didn’t see “any reason” why Russia would interfere in the American election.
One Republican senator, Rand Paul of Kentucky, stood up to support the president. The libertarian senator, who has been sharply critical of Trump in the past, praised the president on Fox news and on Twitter. And this morning, President Trump showed his appreciation, tweeting “Thank you, @RandPaul, you really get it! “The president has gone through a year and a half of totally partisan investigations — what is he supposed to think?”
Here’s what you need to know.
1. Rand Paul Said People’s “Hatred” For Trump Was Clouding Their Judgement of the Summit
“If there wasn’t such acute hatred for President Trump, such a ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ on the left…,” a meeting with a Russian leader could have happened sooner says Sen. @randpaul. The blow back from the meeting, “really shows people hatred for President Trump.”
On a day when the airwaves were full of criticism of the president, Senator Rand Paul made the circuit of news shows, appearing on Fox News, CNN, and the PBS News Hour to defend Trump.
Paul told PBS that there is an intense level of “hatred” for President Trump, and that this hatred often gets in the way of actually accomplishing anything in politics. The Kentucky senator said that there is a “Trump derangement syndrome” on the left which leads Democrats to dismiss the president’s actions no matter what.
Paul said that if Barack Obama had met with Putin, the media would have had a “lovefest” for President Obama.
He said he hopes that the meeting with Putin will lead to a “breakthrough” in US-Russian relations.
2. Paul Said the US Intelligence Community Lies to the Public And Has “Ginned Up” Accusations Against the President
Speaking on CNN last night, Paul charged that the “whole intelligence community” is full of “biased” people. He said the US intelligence community has far too much power and that it is largely unchecked. He said Peter Strzok and others were clearly biased against Trump and have gone unchecked for too long.
Paul said, “I’m with the president on this.” He said he did not discount the possibility that Russia hacked into the 2016 election. But he said that accusations that Trump himself has committed collusion with Russia are totally unproven.
He said that members of the intelligence community — including James Clapper and John Brennan — have lied to the American people over how much information they collect about the American people and cannot be trusted.
Paul added that “engagement with our adversaries, conversation with our adversaries, is a good idea.”
3. Trump’s Twitter Account Was Silent Overnight. Then He Tweeted Thanks to Rand Paul
A productive dialogue is not only good for the United States and good for Russia, but it is good for the world. #HELSINKI2018
The president’s twitter account was relatively calm last night, even as the rest of social media seemed to be buzzing with critiques of his appearance with Putin. Trump did send out a few tweets justifying the summit. He said that a “productive dialogue” is good for the US, good for Russia, and good for the world.
But the president, who is sometimes known for middle-of-the-night tweetstorms, stayed off twitter overnight. This morning, his very first tweet was a thank you to Rand Paul. He wrote, “Thank you, @RandPaul, you really get it! “The president has gone through a year and a half of totally partisan investigations — what is he supposed to think?”
The tweet was a reference to Paul defending Trump failing to back up the US intelligence community’s findings that Russia meddled in the 2016 elections. Paul said that he was “with the president” in distrusting the intelligence community, since they have (according to Paul) shown too much anti-Trump bias.
4. Mitch McConnell Said He Believes the Intelligence Findings And The Russians Are Not Our Friends
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesMcConnell with Trump
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not usually one to stop and chat with the media. But yesterday evening, as he was walking through the halls of the Capitol, McConnell stopped and told reporters, “The Russians are not our friends.”
The senator added, “I’ve said that repeatedly, I say it again today. And I have complete confidence in our intelligence community and the findings that they have announced.”
The “findings that they have announced” is presumably a reference to the indictment, last week, of 12 Russian nationals for allegedly meddling in the US elections. The 12 men indicted were all members of Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU. They are accused of hacking into the computers of the DNC and members of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. After hacking into those computers, the indictment charges that the Russians stole emails and other information and then disseminated it through websites and social media sites which had been designed to look like the work of American “hacktivisits.”
5. Also Yesterday, Schumer Implied that Putin is Blackmailing Trump — And He Threatened to Take Action
Sen. Chuck Schumer slams Trump’s press conference with Putin: “A single ominous question now hangs over the White House: What could possibly cause President Trump to put the interests of Russia over those of the United States?” t.co/8n4amrmbOq
Speaking on CNN yesterday, Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer made dark hints about the connections between Putin and Trump. Schumer said, “A single ominous question now hangs over the White House: What could possibly cause President Trump to put the interests of Russia over those of the United States?”
Schumer said, “Millions of Americans will continue to wonder if the only possible explanation for this dangerous behavior is the possibility that President Putin holds damaging information over President Trump.”
Schumer called Trump’s press conference with Putin “downright shameful” and referred to Putin as the man who directed interference in the 2016 election.
Schumer said he wanted Trump’s national security team to testify to Congress. He also said he wants increased sanctions on Russia, and he asked Trump to push Putin to extradite the 12 men named in the Mueller indictment.