Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, on Monday morning defended the President-elect’s comments casting doubt on conclusions from the U.S. intelligence community that Russia interfered in the U.S. elections and dismissed the reports as just another excuse for Hillary Clinton’s loss in the presidential race.
“First it was Jim Comey’s fault, then ‘Let’s have a recount’ that wasted millions of dollars and everybody’s time that went nowhere, then it’s Russian interference, then it’s a bunch of people in a movement that we have disavowed many times,” Conway said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “How about it was just Hillary Clinton and the message?”
Host George Stephanopoulos noted that Trump has said he does not believe U.S. officials’ conclusions that Russia was behind hacks into Democratic groups, noting that the Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a joint statement in October stating that Russia was behind the leaks.
Conway said that Trump takes issue with the “specific conclusion that what Russia did led to his victory and Hillary Clinton’s defeat.”
“That’s where our beef is. He respects the intelligence community,” she said.
Stephanopoulos then noted that Trump recently told Time Magazine that he was not convinced Russia was behind the hacks. Trump also published a tweet Monday morning indicating that he does not believe Russia interfered in the election.
In response, Conway said, “The President-elect does not want interference into our politics. But we also don’t want politics into the interference of our intelligence. And that’s what’s happening now. People are trying to politicize our intelligence because they don’t like the election result.”
Watch the interview via ABC News:
