Invoking communist Russia and Ronald Reagan, National Security Adviser John Bolton insisted that President Donald Trump has been vocal and assertive about Russia’s hacking in 2016 and the continued threat the nation poses to American elections.
“He felt that the administration wasn’t getting the word out to American voters that we were concerned and were determined to protect the integrity of the electoral process and countering Russian and other foreign influence campaigns,” Bolton told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday, giving the President credit for arranging the presence of top security officials at last week’s White House press briefing.
Tapper pushed Bolton, citing Trump’s tweet calling Russian election interference a “hoax.”
Bolton meandered onto communist Russia in the Reagan era by way of explaining that Russia has long been a threat to America, concluding that by “hoax,” Trump meant the theory that he and his campaign conspired with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s tweet seems to indicate otherwise:
So President Obama knew about Russia before the Election. Why didn’t he do something about it? Why didn’t he tell our campaign? Because it is all a big hoax, that’s why, and he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2018
Watch part of Bolton’s interview here:
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) August 7, 2018