In a press conference staged at his resort in Doral, Florida, Trump conflated the hack of Democratic National Committee email, which experts believe to have been executed by Russian agencies, with the right’s furor over Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to conduct official government business during her tenure as secretary of state.
Advertisement
Democrats pounced within hours of Trump saying: “Russia, if you’re listening I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press”, Trump told reporters. Later in the press conference, when asked if his comments were appropriate, given their potential impact on national security, Trump replied: “It gives me no pause; if they have them, they have them…”
Mrs Clinton, who is is due to accept the presidential nomination on the last day of the party’s convention, responded with a campaign statement accusing Mr Trump of posing a possible national security threat by urging Russian Federation to commit espionage and influence the vote.
On Putin – who has called Trump “bright” and whom Trump has praised as a strong leader – Trump said they’ve never spoken. “It’s going to be an extension of Obama”.
Just how tight are Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin?
The Indiana governor called it “outrageous” that Democrats were “singularly focusing on who might be behind” the breach and not the fallout from the leaked emails, which resulted in the ouster of Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz after some revealed the DNC was rooting for Clinton as their nominee and worked to handicap Bernie Sanders.
“It’s just a total deflection, this whole thing with Russia”, Trump said.
And if those comments of mutual admiration aren’t eyebrow-raising on their own, Trump’s interview with The New York Times earlier this month definitely seals the deal.
Speaking at press conference in Doral, Florida, Trump said if Russian Federation was behind the DNC leaks, “they probably have her 33,000 emails”. While the motive for intrusion and release of emails isn’t known, many Democrats have speculated that it’s a possible attempt to influence the outcome of this year’s presidential election.
Trump also claimed during his news conference that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lack of respect for the United States prompted him to once use the “N word,” implying that he was referring to President Barack Obama.
Trump reiterated that he has no plans to release his tax returns until an audit is completed – which may not be finished until after the November elections. He has said that he has “zero investments” in Russian Federation and insisted that his company had not received any significant investments from the country.
The sadder truth is that with the Democratic National Convention taking place this week, Trump has not been as much a feature of the news, with much of the coverage focused on speeches given by the wife of President Obama, Michele, and husband of Hillary Clinton and former president himself, Bill Clinton.
Trump on Wednesday called this “a total deflection”. The two have reportedly expressed mutual feelings. From the podium at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Arena, speaker after speaker condemned the Republican nominee, saying his economic and foreign policies would trigger recession and undermine historic USA alliances across the globe.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., accused Trump of trying to divide Americans by race and gender by “fanning the flames of fear and hatred”.
“It depends on the audit – not a big deal”, Trump said.
In his critique of the Democratic convention, Trump claimed Clinton would continue to push the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership with Pacific Rim nations, despite her recent opposition to the pact. He hasn’t minced words about the dangers of a Trump presidency. He said I’m a genius.
Some of Trump’s campaign allies afterward hurried to clean up his remarks.
Advertisement
“He is a very flamboyant man, very talented, no doubt about that”, Putin said according to Reuters. “Let’s see if that happens, that would be nice”. “I think anybody who goes into campaigns not running scared can end up losing”.
