The set of “Morning Joe” declared on Friday that Donald Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin was not just bad for the country — it was treasonous.
“As a branding guy, I have no trepidation at all about assigning that treason word,” said frequent “Morning Joe” guest Donny Deutsch. “We have a treasonous president.”
“I don’t think it’s extreme,” Deutsch said of using the word treason to describe the president. “I think that Trump, like a petulant child, any time in any way he’s rebuked about anything his response is to … double down.”
The latest round of criticism was sparked by news that not only was President Trump unapologetic about his widely panned joint press conference with Putin but that he had ordered his National Security Adviser John Bolton to prepare for a Putin visit to the White House in the fall.
“In Helsinki, @POTUS agreed to ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs,” said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders in a tweet on Thursday. “President Trump asked @Ambjohnbolton to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway.”
In Helsinki, @POTUS agreed to ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs. President Trump asked @Ambjohnbolton to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway.
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) July 19, 2018
President Trump has been heavily criticized all week for his Helsinki summit with Putin, in which he praised the Russian autocrat and publicly cast doubt on American intelligence agencies that have been unwavering in their assessment that Russia was behind an extensive hacking campaign to disrupt the 2016 presidential election.
Joe Scarborough called him a “dopey stooge” earlier this week. Even “Fox & Friends” was displeased, with host Brian Kilmeade explaining on air how he thought Trump had erred.
In an official walkback Tuesday, Trump said the whole issue could be explained away by a single misspoken work in Helsinki.
“In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t,’” said Trump, clarifying an initial claim which cast doubt on Russia’s involvement in the 2016 hacking campaign.
“The sentence should’ve been, ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.’ Sort of a double-negative.”