A number of members of the establishment media were stunned by President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dual press conference Monday.
MSNBC’s Katy Tur tweeted:
What will republicans do?
What will republicans do?
What will republicans do?
What will republicans do?That is the only question that matters.
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) July 16, 2018
Tur wasn’t the only one to get upset. Dan Rather said:
The President of the United States trusts the word of a former KGB agent over the consensus of the American intelligence community backed by a ton of facts. That is a shocking reality. Everyone who excuses Trump’s behavior must answer that now, and when history inevitably judges.
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) July 16, 2018
Other journalists and commentators chimed in:
Treason.
I’ve been very slow to join the treason train, but what we just witnessed is treasonous.
It is absolutely treasonous.
When asked who he believed, every American intelligence agency or Russia, regarding our elections, he said Russia & Putin.
It’s unthinkable.
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) July 16, 2018
Is PUTIN auditioning for a show on @InfoWars? He just:
1) Alleged @BillBrowder‘s associates donated $400M in ill-gotten $$ from Russia to @HillaryClinton‘s campaign.
2) Suggested @GeorgeSoros is working against US interests.
3) Said he didn’t know Trump was in Moscow in 2013.— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) July 16, 2018
POTUS no longer means President of the United States. It means Putin Owns the United States. #TreasonSummit
— Thor Benson (@thor_benson) July 16, 2018
The President is now calling out the FBI in front of Vladimir Putin.
The President has cast doubt on his own hand-chosen intelligence people.
This is an incredible moment in American history.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) July 16, 2018
American Journalists at the #HelsinkiSummit2018 joint press conference asked Putin tougher questions than Donald Trump.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) July 16, 2018
“You have been watching perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader certainly than I’ve ever seen.” – Anderson Cooper on Trump-Putin summit pic.twitter.com/xHbmAZl0y3
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 16, 2018
How can trump believe putin as much (or more) than his own intel agencies on election interference? How can he blame both sides? Makes even less sense than it did in South Carolina. His written remarks bore little resemblance to how he ran down his own admin. Bizarre. #Helsinki
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) July 16, 2018
Putin did not deny that Russia has compromising materials on Trump
This is not an accident
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) July 16, 2018
With the world watching, Trump does NOT call out Putin for attacks on the US elections, suggests Russia may not have been behind it, attacks FBI and does NOT call for the extradition of Russians accused of interfering in the elections
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 16, 2018
“My people came to me…they said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this, I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
–TrumpThat’s how a press conference sounds when an Asset stands next to his Handler.
— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) July 16, 2018