Donald Trump has inspired another media freakout over something he said about Hillary Clinton’s emails during a press conference in Miami on Wednesday.
If Russia or any other country or person has Hillary Clinton's 33,000 illegally deleted emails, perhaps they should share them with the FBI!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2016
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’ll be able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press,” quipped the GOP nominee, in reference to the thousands of emails Hillary deleted from her private email server because she considered them to be of a “personal” nature — yoga routines, wedding plans, and such.
The media was very concerned. Years after mocking Mitt Romney’s suggestion that Russia was a threat to U.S national security, and several weeks removed from the celebration surrounding the FBI’s decision not to indict Hillary Clinton for her “extremely careless” email practices as secretary of state, the media has suddenly realized that Russia is bad, now that Hillary Clinton is the target of their cyber mischief.
Top media outlets were all over it:
Donald Trump’s comments essentially sanction a foreign power's cyberspying https://t.co/UUuaBt4FVB
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 27, 2016
Donald Trump just encouraged Russia to spy on Hillary Clinton https://t.co/EbX12D7IMX
— Post Politics (@postpolitics) July 27, 2016
BBC News – US election: Trump urges Russia to trace hacked Democrat emails https://t.co/8DHHj7bK9S
— Peter Hunt (@BBCPeterHunt) July 27, 2016
Trump, who fondly recalls when America was "great," could literally have been locked up in 1950s for saying what he said about Russia today.
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) July 27, 2016
Recall what the New York Times wrote about Mitt Romney’s suggestion during the 2012 presidential race that Russia was the “number one geopolitical foe” of the United States, in an editorial titled, “The Never-Ending Cold War”:
His comments display either a shocking lack of knowledge about international affairs or just craven politics. Either way, they are reckless and unworthy of a major presidential contender.
President Obama even made a lame joke at Romney’s expense during one of their debates:
The Democratic Party (and future Secretary of State John Kerry) piled on:
Sen. John Kerry on Mitt Romney’s approach to U.S.-Russia relations: pic.twitter.com/khgEpKc9
— OFA TruthTeam (@OFATruthTeam) September 8, 2012
Hillary Clinton’s campaign was quick out of the gate with a statement condemning Trump’s remarks.
“This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent,” said Clinton foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan. “That’s not hyperbole, those are just the facts. This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue.”
Sullivan is currently under State Department investigation for his role in the mishandling of classified information over Hillary’s unauthorized email server.
Several Twitter users pointed out the disproportionate outrage from the media and Hillary allies over Trump’s comments compared to the collective “sigh” at the FBI’s assessment that Hillary had been “extremely careless” in her handling of classified information and may very well have herself vulnerable to foreign hackers.
The media seems more upset by Trump's joke about Russian hacking than by the fact that Hillary's personal server was vulnerable to Russia
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) July 27, 2016
I see far more outrage abt Trump saying "hey Russia, release E-mails!" from MSM than about fact HRC gave up state secrets to enemy powers /8
— Jeff B/DDHQ (@EsotericCD) July 27, 2016
why is anyone against the public release of all these great yoga routines that keep Hillary in such great shape? @jshellab @BraddJaffy
— The Dishonorable DJT (@AceofSpadesHQ) July 27, 2016
Whether or not it was a “joke,” it does not appear that Trump supporters are too concerned about the GOP nominee’s suggestion.
Talking to voters at Trump rally in Scranton today, I am getting two reactions to his comments.
1. He didn't say that
2. So what?— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 27, 2016
It’s hardly the first time that Trump has said something controversial that has caused a collective freakout among Twitter celebs and media pundits. Even Cher was outraged, in case you were wondering.
NEVER IN MY WILDEST IMAGINATION DID I THINK ID HEAR AN AMERICAN,ASK A HOSTILE GOV 2DECLARE CYBOR WAR AGAINST OUR
COUNTRY????????#BENEDICTTRUMP— Cher (@cher) July 27, 2016
And every single time, Trump saw a significant drop in his polling numbers, because the media is very in tune with public sentiment in this election cycle. (He didn’t; they aren’t.)
