Reacting to the report, Joe Biden slammed Trump’s record of “deference and debasing himself before Vladimir Putin.”
Critics erupted Saturday after an explosive New York Times story asserting that Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly offered a bounty to Afghanistan militants for American soldiers they killed — and that Donald Trump knew about it.
Both the White House and Putin denied the story Saturday. But it was concerning enough that several critics spoke out. The hashtag “Tre45on” — using 45 from the 45th president — was trending nationally on Twitter in reaction to the story Saturday.
Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden said Saturday that if true, the report is a “truly shocking revelation.”
Not only has Trump allegedly “failed to sanction or impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law, but Donald Trump has also continued his embarrassing campaign of deference and debasing himself before Vladimir Putin,” said Biden. He called Trump’s presidency a “gift to Russia.”
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) called the behavior “traitorous.”
Despite being informed of the situation, Trump took no action, sources told the Times. Not only that, but he offered to invite Putin in a phone call to attend the G-7 Summit in the U.S. in September, despite the strong objections of Canada and Britain, the Kremlin reported this month.
Sources later also confirmed the Times story to The Washington Post and CNN.
Veteran journalist Dan Rather indicated the story was not out of the realm of possibility, given Trump’s mysterious slavish devotion to Russia’s president for possible reasons “ranging from craven to treasonous.”
The never-Trumper GOP Lincoln Project — founded by lawyer George Conway, husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway — already popped out an ad lashing Trump on Saturday over the situation. “How can Trump lead America when he can’t even defend it?” it asked.
Former Trump friend and short-time White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said it’s time for Trump “to go,” and called him a “puppet” of Putin.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany denied in a press briefing that Trump was informed of the bounty on American troops. “The CIA Director, national security adviser, and the chief of staff can all confirm that neither the president nor the vice president were briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence,” McEnany said.
The Russian Embassy said in a tweet that the Times’ reporting was an attempt to create “new fake stories.”
