Donald Trump implied that Vladimir Putin had used the N-word about President Obama but would respect him if he got into power.
Next, he called for Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails as secretary of state and release them to the media.
Stunned Republicans scrambled to distance themselves from the nominee, including his own Vice-President. ‘Russia’ soared to the top of social media trends, and #TrumpTreason #TrumpTraitor were popular hashtags. Former CIA director Leon Panetta and others explicitly called this out:
“I find those kinds of statements to be totally outrageous because you’ve got now a presidential candidate who is in fact asking the Russians to engage in American politics,” Panetta told CNN.
Trump also caved pathetically to Putin on policy, saying he’d recognize the Crimea as belonging to Vlad.
Not so much ‘Make American Great Again’ as “Bow Down to Russia and Call Putin Sir.”
Of course, national security experts said, Trump should not get intelligence briefings now:
the Republican presidential nominee refused to unequivocally call on Vladimir V. Putin, Russia’s president, to not meddle in the election.
“I’m not going to tell Putin what to do,” Mr. Trump said. “Why should I tell Putin what to do?”
Paul Ryan had to miserably disagree.
A spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan issued this statement after the press conference: “Russia is a global menace led by a devious thug. Putin should stay out of this election.”
Meanwhile Trump’s VP Mike Pence also ran a mile:
And before Trump is even off the stage, campaign sends a clean-up statement from Mike Pence.
KREMLIN DON openly asking RUSSIA commit espionage on a US citizen for political gain! TREASON #milwaukee #pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/hxFNGREi4j
— High Plains Drifter (@WYVeteran) July 27, 2016
Here is Trump practising sedition:
.@realDonaldTrump: "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing." pic.twitter.com/Xr4of6hpqJ
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 27, 2016
A deeply unimpressed social media excelled itself with Trump-Spy memes:
John Kasich of Ohio had presciently run a Trump-Putin 2016 site which got overwhelmed with traffic today. Its motto?
