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As a rule, President Joe Biden and his team say very little about their Republican predecessor. Every once in a while, however, the Democratic team makes an exception.
Sometimes, those exceptions are amusing. Late last year, for example, Donald Trump referenced the work of his “envoy ambassador” at “the Kosovo-Serbia border.” It led an official in the actual White House to tell reporters, “Outside of his very active imagination, Donald Trump is no longer president and doesn’t have any ‘envoy ambassadors’ representing the United States.”
Other exceptions aren’t funny at all. Yesterday, for example, during a press briefing, a reporter asked White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield, “[A]ny reaction to former President Trump calling on Putin to release information about Hunter Biden? Are you concerned about that?” She replied:
“What kind of American, let alone an ex-president, thinks that this is the right time to enter into a scheme with Vladimir Putin and brag about his connections to Vladimir Putin? There is only one, and it’s Donald Trump.”
If you’re new to the story, the former American president sat down with a conservative media outlet this week, and brought up something he wanted to say unprompted. “While I’m on your show, as long as Putin now is not exactly a fan of our country, let him explain ... why did the mayor of Moscow’s wife give the Bidens, both of them, $3.5 million?” Trump asked.
The Republican added, “I would think Putin would know the answer to that. I think he should release it.... You won’t get the answer from Ukraine.... I think Putin now would be willing to probably give that answer.”
The underlying claim was disconnected from reality, but more important was the fact that Trump, once again, urged his benefactor in Moscow to intervene in U.S. politics. Indeed, as we discussed yesterday, the closer one looks at the circumstances, the more offensive the appeal appears: Putin is waging a brutal and unprovoked war in Ukraine. The United States and our allies have condemned the conflict and Putin’s responsibility for causing such widespread suffering.
It’s against this backdrop that Trump sees an opportunity: So long as Putin is angry with the United States, the former American president believes the Russian autocrat can exact some revenge on our country by releasing disinformation that might help undermine the current American president.
Sure, Putin is killing civilians and destroying Ukrainian communities indiscriminately, but Trump sure would appreciate it if, when the Russian leader has some free time, Putin could also help advance Trump’s political interests.
For his part, the former president could’ve responded to the ensuing controversy by saying he was kidding, or claiming that he’d been taken out of context. Instead, the Republican simply said in a written statement that the Russian dictator “may be willing to give” the dirt Trump is looking for.
In other words, the former president didn’t feel the need to defend his outreach to the accused war criminal.
As for whether Republicans on Capitol Hill are comfortable with such unpatriotic antics, The Hill reported:
Republicans are finding themselves on defense again after former President Trump urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to release dirt on the Biden family.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, for example, was asked whether Trump’s appeal to Putin was appropriate. “That would not be something that I would do, no,” the South Carolinian said. Around the same time, Senate Minority Whip John Thune added, “We have very little control over what the former president says, obviously.”
But Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer took a very different position.
“I don’t know if [Putin] has dirt on Biden,” the North Dakotan said. “If he does, he should reveal it, but he is a war criminal so I don’t expect that he’s right now sitting around thinking about ways” to reveal information.
Those waiting for GOP officials to express explicit outrage over Trump — by most measures, the head of the Republican Party — seeking political assistance from Putin are going to be waiting for a long time.