Nancy Pelosi has responded with derision to Donald Trump’s claims that Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers are a hoax. The President has repeatedly asserted that the story isn’t true.
The Speaker of the House spoke to the press on Thursday before a meeting of congressional leaders known as the Gang of Eight. She dismissed Trump’s claims of a media hoax.
“He’ll say this is a hoax, and it’s a hoax that they are 24/7 trying to disrupt our election as they did in 2016,” Pelosi said.
“He says the Coronavirus is a hoax. The fact is the President himself is a hoax.”
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News broke in recent days that the Russian state was offering financial inducements to the Taliban in Afghanistan for the deaths of American soldiers.
The accusations have rocked Washington, with both Democrats and Republican deeply concerned.
“Let’s hope that the Gang of Eight shows up, open to hear the truth, the facts, the intelligence, and that ‘Moscow Mitch’ doesn’t show up, but the leader of the Republicans in the Senate comes with an open mind,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi again raised the question of Trump’s frequent defense of Russia.
“You just wonder what the President would be thinking if this kind of intelligence had come forth about any other country, but every time it’s Russia, as I’ve said over and over. With this President all roads lead to Putin,” she said.
“I think the President should step down because of dereliction of duty,” the California Democrat went on.
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Darragh Roche is a journalist covering U.S. politics and media
