At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Vladimir Putin tried to bail Trump out but made the president look guilty of colluding with the Russians.
Putin used the same talking points that the Trump administration uses, and Republican defenders of Trump in Congress are using.
Watch Putin’s answers:
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The full exchange is about 15 minutes long, and what is visible is that Putin and Trump use the same words, phrases, and tactics. Putin calls the allegations false. He blames Democrats. Putin attacked the US media and denied knowledge of everything.
At one eerie point, Putin even used Donald Trump’s favorite phrase believe me denying everything.
When asked by NBC’s News’s Megyn Kelly if Russia and the Trump campaign talked about lifting sanctions before Trump took office, Putin answered, “No. I saw what was happening. To be frank, it was a great surprise.” Putin justified his ambassador meeting with Trump officials, and added, “Well, those people who disagree with me will never believe what I will say right now, but I had never known anything about it. I’ve never known anything about anyone meeting anyone. We never agreed on anything.”
Putin called the allegations of collusion between Trump and Russia, “hysteria.”
It is clear that Putin was trying to help Trump as the Russia scandal consumes this president, but all that the Russian authoritarian’s answers highlighted the high level of collusion between the Trump team and the Russians.
Putin is only digging the hole deeper for Trump, as his denials perfectly match the denials that are coming out of the White House.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
