If anyone bothers to read the transcript of Trump's Helsinki press conference with Putin, one sees that, as a matter of fact, Trump never flatly denied that the Russians meddled in the 2016 election, although he indicated he was skeptical about the charge. To be exact, Trump said (1) that his DNI (Dan Coats) told him that the Russians meddled, (2) that Putin strongly denied it, (3) that he (Trump) did not see why the Russians would have meddled, but (4) that he would like to see the servers that were supposedly hacked. So he left open the possibility that an analysis of the servers might prove that the Russians meddled.
If you read the transcript, you also learn that Trump pressed Putin on the issue of election meddling during their private discussion, and that Putin responded to the charge at some length. So Trump thought enough of what DNI Coats had presented to him to raise the issue with Putin during their private meeting, and he apparently pressed Putin hard enough to elicit from Putin a very detailed, emphatic response to the charge. Putin also spent a fair amount of time during the press conference denying Russian meddling.
In any case, I ask the following questions:
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about the charge of Russian meddling or the liberal Democrats' repeated denials that the Soviets were gassing civilian in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation of that country?
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about meddling or the liberal Democrats' prolonged downplaying of the Soviet government's human rights abuses against its own citizens, to the point of questioning the veracity and motives of Soviet dissidents who escaped Russia and who reported on Soviet brutality, such as Alexander Solzhenitsyen, during the Cold War?
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about meddling or the liberal Democrats' parroting of Soviet talking points about the "nuclear freeze" proposal, about the MX missile, about Reagan's missile defense program, and about the Soviet government's hostile plans and intentions?
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about meddling or Obama's secret promise to the Russians that he would gut our missile defense after the 2012 election and Obama's ridiculing of Mitt Romney's warning that we should be more worried about Russian than any other nation? (Obama thought that his promise to gut missile defense after the election was being made in secret, but he did not realize that he was being recorded.)
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about meddling or Ted Kennedy's secret overtures to Soviet leaders prior to the 1984 election in which, among other things, Kennedy asked for the Soviets' help in the 1984 election and said he would work with American media outlets to get favorable coverage for Yuri Andropov and other Soviet officials?
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about meddling or the liberal Democrats' strident, dismissive attacks on President Reagan for daring to call the Soviet Union an "evil empire"?
I think that Trump made a mistake in expressing doubt about Russian meddling. He might be correct, but he should have kept that view to himself under those circumstances. I also think that Trump made a mistake when he said, during the press conference, that he trusted his intelligence people but that he also trusted the Russians. But I think those mistakes pale in comparison to what liberal Democrats have said and done in relation to the Russians.
Why It’s Hard to Take Democrats Seriously on Russia
Soviet influence on the peace movement - Wikipedia
"Moscow and the Peace, Offensive"
Kennedy-KGB collaboration
Ted Kennedy’s Secret Appeal to Russia to Hurt Reagan
The Man Who Called Out Evil | National Review
If you read the transcript, you also learn that Trump pressed Putin on the issue of election meddling during their private discussion, and that Putin responded to the charge at some length. So Trump thought enough of what DNI Coats had presented to him to raise the issue with Putin during their private meeting, and he apparently pressed Putin hard enough to elicit from Putin a very detailed, emphatic response to the charge. Putin also spent a fair amount of time during the press conference denying Russian meddling.
In any case, I ask the following questions:
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about the charge of Russian meddling or the liberal Democrats' repeated denials that the Soviets were gassing civilian in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation of that country?
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about meddling or the liberal Democrats' prolonged downplaying of the Soviet government's human rights abuses against its own citizens, to the point of questioning the veracity and motives of Soviet dissidents who escaped Russia and who reported on Soviet brutality, such as Alexander Solzhenitsyen, during the Cold War?
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about meddling or the liberal Democrats' parroting of Soviet talking points about the "nuclear freeze" proposal, about the MX missile, about Reagan's missile defense program, and about the Soviet government's hostile plans and intentions?
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about meddling or Obama's secret promise to the Russians that he would gut our missile defense after the 2012 election and Obama's ridiculing of Mitt Romney's warning that we should be more worried about Russian than any other nation? (Obama thought that his promise to gut missile defense after the election was being made in secret, but he did not realize that he was being recorded.)
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about meddling or Ted Kennedy's secret overtures to Soviet leaders prior to the 1984 election in which, among other things, Kennedy asked for the Soviets' help in the 1984 election and said he would work with American media outlets to get favorable coverage for Yuri Andropov and other Soviet officials?
Which is worse: Trump's expression of doubt about meddling or the liberal Democrats' strident, dismissive attacks on President Reagan for daring to call the Soviet Union an "evil empire"?
I think that Trump made a mistake in expressing doubt about Russian meddling. He might be correct, but he should have kept that view to himself under those circumstances. I also think that Trump made a mistake when he said, during the press conference, that he trusted his intelligence people but that he also trusted the Russians. But I think those mistakes pale in comparison to what liberal Democrats have said and done in relation to the Russians.
Why It’s Hard to Take Democrats Seriously on Russia
Soviet influence on the peace movement - Wikipedia
"Moscow and the Peace, Offensive"
Kennedy-KGB collaboration
Ted Kennedy’s Secret Appeal to Russia to Hurt Reagan
The Man Who Called Out Evil | National Review