Journalists slam Trump aide’s ‘repulsive’ attack over Russia
Journalists lashed out at a White House spokesman on Saturday after the aide to President Trump claimed that news media and Democrats have caused more “chaos” than Russia.
White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley made the comments during an interview on Fox News while responding to special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of Russian nationals for meddling in the 2016 election.
“There are two groups that have created chaos more than the Russians and that’s the Democrats and the mainstream media,” Gidley asserted on Fox News.
{mosads}
“[They] continued to push this lie on the American people for more than a year, and frankly Americans should be outraged by that.”
The remark was widely panned by journalists, with reporters from The Associated Press, CNN, The Washington Post, Politico and other outlets calling the remark false.
This is patently false — and my guess is Hogan knows as much. https://t.co/gbaJDGUXtx
— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) February 17, 2018
Repulsive and false. https://t.co/7hHPbkOeAG
— Ben White (@morningmoneyben) February 17, 2018
A reminder the DAG said yesterday Russia was engaged in “information warfare” against the US (and NSA echoed today). This is either an embarrassing misstatement by a White House official or a stunningly unsupported charge against fellow citizens. https://t.co/Ncgpj97aAt
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) February 17, 2018
How about no https://t.co/U3aUmfZ3Ay
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 17, 2018
This is unreal. Patently false. https://t.co/BqgXENSOLD
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) February 17, 2018
2 things can be true:
1. Russia actively sought to meddle in the 2016 election to help Trump and hurt Clinton.
2. Trump’s victory is totally valid.
I don’t understand why the president of the United States can’t grasp that.
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) February 17, 2018
Gonna go on a limb and say the Russians hacking the DNC, John Podesta, other Democratic organizations, and Colin Powell + funding pro-Trump Twitter trolls caused more chaos. https://t.co/aLO4jYWxLZ
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) February 17, 2018
The Friday indictments from Mueller’s team charged that 13 Russian nationals and three Russian organizations attempted to sow discord in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Gidley’s comments followed claims by White House spokesman Raj Shah on Friday night that the indictments proved that the Russian operatives were not trying to actively help one candidate.
Shah made that claim despite Mueller’s team explicitly concluding that the Russian efforts were aimed at helping Trump and hurting the campaigns of his political rivals.
Individuals named in Mueller’s indictments have also questioned the validity of the U.S. intelligence community and justice system in issuing the charges.
One former Clinton campaign aide remarked Saturday that Gidley’s remarks amounted to defense of the Russians named in the report.
The US taxpayers are now financing Russia’s legal defense https://t.co/dbip5n4b07
— Josh Schwerin (@JoshSchwerin) February 17, 2018
Mueller’s indictment charges that Russians employed hackers and internet trolls as part of its online propaganda campaign, spreading misleading and inflammatory political news on social media sites. Investigators linked much of the social media influence to the Internet Research Agency, a Russian “troll farm.”
