President Donald Trump joked that U.S. intelligence agencies were responsible for the lights going out for a moment during his White House appearance where he reaffirmed his support for American intelligence officers.
“Let me begin by saying that once again, full faith and support for America’s intelligence agencies. I have a full faith in our intelligence agencies,” he said, as the lights in the room went out.
“Oops, they just turned off the light. That must be the intelligence agencies,” Trump joked, as some in the room laughed.
“You guys ok? Good, that was strange,” he said afterward.
There is still no information on why the lights went out in the room.
Trump’s appearance comes a day after he said that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denials of Russian election interference in the 2016 election, which is opposite to U.S. intelligence findings, CNBC reported.
“I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” Trump said during the statement on Tuesday.
“Could be other people also. A lot of people out there,” he added.
Trump was faced with a wave of criticism from both sides of the aisle for his comments.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch confronted the President by saying that the Russians have demonstrated their hostility by annexing Crimea, invading Ukraine and by interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, adding that the evidence of those activities is “indisputable.”
McConnell also stated that his views are shared by almost everyone in the Senate GOP conference which finished meeting several minutes before the press conference.
He added that Republican lawmakers are looking into several legislative options to push back against Trump’s embrace of Putin.
“Sen. Rubio, for example, has got a bill that targets the 2018 election, the cycle we’re right in now,” McConnell noted. Republican Senator Marco Rubio sponsored a bill that would impose penalties on Russia if it again interferes with a U.S. election.
Be the first to comment