Brooklyn’s Congressional delegation split along partisan lines in reacting to President Donald Trump’s shocking comments following his two-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which the U.S. leader appeared to side with the Russian leader over American intelligence experts concerning Russian collusion in the last presidential election.
“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,” Trump said during the press conference.
The comment came after Trump was asked if he believed his own intelligence agencies or the Russian president when it came to the allegations of meddling in the elections.
Brooklyn’s Democratic Congressional delegation including Yvette Clarke, Nydia Velazquez, Jerrod Nadler and Hakeem Jeffries were quick to call Trump out on the carpet concerning his comments.
“When given an opportunity to show strength, this president proved that he is both unable and unwilling to defend America. It is unbelievable that I have to explain to my constituents that the Commander-in-Chief has put our nation’s global security and democracy in danger,” said Clarke.
“Your “great” meeting in Helsinki was only great for Russia and Vladimir Putin. We need a President whose goal is not to #MakeRussiaGreatAgain – but who will stand up to our nation’s adversaries,” said Velazquez in a tweet.
“Simply incredible to hear this from the President of the United States. No words. On the heels of 12 new indictments [President Trump] again called the Special Counsel investigation a “witch hunt”. Sadly, [House GOP] have furthered this attack by working to undermine Special Counsel Mueller in order to shield POTUS from accountability. This must stop,” said Nadler in a series of tweets on social media.
“Twelve more indictments in Trump-Russia campaign collusion scandal. America deserves to know whether or not 45 is a crook. FAKE President?” Tweeted Jeffries.
“Bromance b/w Trump and PuppetMaster Putin a complete disgrace,” stated Jeffries in another Tweet.
Meanwhile, Republican Congressman Dan Donovan (R-South Brooklyn, Staten Island), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, noted his long-standing support for the intelligence community, but did highlight a lack of evidence in the probe against Russia.
“I have consistently said that I agree with the intelligence community’s and House Intelligence Committee’s assessment that Russia tried to meddle in the 2016 election, and they should be held accountable. However, in an almost two-year investigation, there has been zero evidence of collusion. It’s time for the probe to reach a conclusion so detractors can stop using it as a political football to undermine the President,” said Donovan.
Donovan, though was taken to task by his Democratic challenger, Max Rose.
“At a moment where members of both parties are rightfully calling out the President’s actions yesterday, Congressman Dan Donovan cannot muster up the courage to challenge the President when he defended a hostile foreign power instead of standing up for America and the people who risk their lives to keep us safe. After his embarrassing statement yesterday, Dan Donovan doesn’t even come close to meeting that requirement,” said Rose.
Trump has since walked back his comments, reversing his previous statement and now claiming that he meant to say, “I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
