Rachel Maddow blasted Donald Trump for knowingly using an unsecured cell phone even after he has been warned by aides that Chinese and Russian hackers are listening in.
The MSNBC host’s outrage comes hours after The New York Times reported, “When President Trump calls old friends on one of his iPhones to gossip, gripe or solicit their latest take on how he is doing, American intelligence reports indicate that Chinese spies are often listening — and putting to use invaluable insights into how to best work the president and affect administration policy, current and former American officials said.”
The Times added, “Mr. Trump’s aides have repeatedly warned him that his cellphone calls are not secure, and they have told him that Russian spies are routinely eavesdropping on the calls, as well. But aides say the voluble president, who has been pressured into using his secure White House landline more often these days, has still refused to give up his iPhones.”
Maddow was beside herself about Trump’s refusal to give up his unsecured phone even after being informed that it can be easily accessed by hackers.
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“Now we know that, as president, even though his staff have told him foreign spy agencies can listen in to all his calls if he uses his private phone, he’s still using his private phone,” the MSNBC host said.
Video:
Chinese and Russian spies listen in to Trump’s personal phone calls – and Trump doesn’t care. #Maddow explains. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/1ExQJFeseF
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) October 25, 2018
Maddow explained:
You know how the president still and now other Republicans too, they get crowds, Republican crowds, to scream “Lock her up, lock her up” at rallies and events about Hillary Clinton? What that is supposedly about is about her using a private e-mail server when she was secretary of state. Oh, the horror. Now we know that, as president, even though his staff have told him foreign spy agencies can listen in to all his calls if he uses his private phone, he’s still using his private phone. So the Chinese, according to American intelligence reports, the Chinese are now not only listening in on his calls, they’re using what they’re obtaining from the fact that they’re listening in on his calls to manipulate him and to manipulate U.S. policy to their advantage.
Trump doesn’t care about national security
For years, Trump and Republicans attacked Hillary Clinton for the so-called egregious act of using a private email server while she was secretary of state. But Clinton’s server was never compromised.
Trump, on the other hand, isn’t just using an unsecured cellular device, but he’s doing so while fully aware that Russia and China are listening in. To this day, he refuses to give us the device. And Republicans have yet to issue a call to lock him up.
This doesn’t just make Donald Trump a hypocrite; it makes him a major threat to American national security.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
