Culture

Trump Insists ‘Nobody Really Knows’ If Russia Hacked The Election, But Ridicules Obama For Not Doing Anything To Stop Them

On the one hand, that Donald Trump is altogether sidelining (or ignoring) Russia’s alleged hacking of the 2016 presidential election, ridiculing the American news media, and blaming former President Barack Obama for current controversies is nothing new. The current President of the United States did this throughout his campaign to attain the Republican nomination, his subsequent efforts to reach the White House, his burgeoning administration’s transition period before inauguration, and so on. On the other hand, the fact that Trump did all three of these during a press conference in Poland is just amazing.

When NBC News correspondent Hallie Jackson’s turn to address Trump or Polish President Andrzej Duda came, she immediately pressed the former on his reluctance to admit Russia had hacked the 2016 election. She confronted Trump with previous reports that U.S. intelligence agencies had confirmed Russia’s involvement in the hack, but the president simply brushed it off as speculation. “I agree I think it was Russia, but I think it was probably other people and/or countries,” he said. “I see nothing wrong with that statement. Nobody really knows for sure.”

Earlier, he used the opportunity to criticize his predecessor for his apparent mishandling of the alleged Russia election hack, which he would soon be casting doubt on. Alluding to a report claiming former FBI Director James Comey (whom he fired) had tried to convince the White House to go public earlier, Trump suggested President Obama “choked” because “he thought Hillary was going to win.” He of course made no mention of full intelligence review Obama ordered following the election, or the sanctions his administration imposed (that Trump’s White House is reportedly trying to undo).

After Jackson’s mic was cut for attempting to ask a third question that may have been a followup, other reporters kept the charge going, which inspired Trump to lash out at his beloved “fake news” outlets. “I think what CNN did was unfortunate for them. As you know now, they have some pretty serious problems. They have been fake news for a long time. They have been covering me in a very dishonest way,” he said in what may have been a reference to the #CNNBlackmail charade. “NBC is equally as bad, despite the fact that I made them a fortune with The Apprentice, but they forgot that.”

Amazingly, Trump used his anti-media pedestal to casually address Duda, a known media critic, with a joke. “Do you have that also, by the way, Mr. President?” A few people in the room laughed at the quip, but many American journalists monitoring the exchange were dumbfounded. “Stunning to see Trump attack a free press on foreign soil to a foreign leader who also regularly attacks the media,” said MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin.

(Via NBC News)