As Twitchy reported earlier Tuesday, President Donald Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his re-election.
.@KremlinRussia_E says Pres Trump phoned congrats to Putin on his re-election and to discuss ongoing warfare in Syria and situation in Ukraine. Kremlin statement says Trump & Putin also discussed possibility of a Summit meeting. WH confirms phone call but has yet to issue readout
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 20, 2018
As Twitchy also reported, there didn’t seem to be much of a scandal when President Obama called Putin in 2012 to congratulate him on his election. Like Guy Benson reminded David Axelrod, Russia’s invasion of an ally didn’t stop Obama from calling with his congratulations.
However, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders managed to leave NBC News’ Andrea Michell speechless when she announced at Tuesday’s press briefing that neither election meddling nor the poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain came up in the conversation.
Reporter: Did the recent poisoing in the U.K. come up today's Trump-Putin call?
Press Sec. Sanders: "I don't believe that was discussed in today's call." pic.twitter.com/FnRHlkK8Ye
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 20, 2018
No comment. I have no words https://t.co/3AgxCiq2tx
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) March 20, 2018
just the way we like you… doesn't happen often enough…sadly https://t.co/VkhOd8eVzE
— Senators Kate Q. Steinle & Mollie Q. Tibbets (@sacramento_cpa) March 20, 2018
You also had no words in 2012, when Obama called to congratulate Putin. https://t.co/CxzK2pWWKt
— [shrug emoji] (@jtLOL) March 20, 2018
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Andrea Mitchell has no words? Not that we’re complaining, but that’s some heavy-handed editorializing. Earlier in the day, she praised Sen. John McCain for his criticism of Trump’s call.
An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election. https://t.co/lcQTBi7CA1
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) March 20, 2018
A strong voice against the President's congratulatory call to #Putin with no mention of the nerve agent attack on our closest ally Great Britain https://t.co/ACWCekrNVr
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) March 20, 2018
For what it’s worth, the poisoning is still being investigated, but Putin nemesis Garry Kasparov has no doubts who’s behind it.
If any politician says they aren't sure if Putin was behind the use of a Russian nerve agent on a former Russian spy, there should be investigations into their IQ and their bank accounts.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 19, 2018
That aside, we can’t help but wonder what words Mitchell had when Obama was caught on a hot mic telling outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he’d have “more flexibility” with Russia after his re-election.
https://twitter.com/cudawudapica/status/976188627603640320
https://twitter.com/AmirAminiMD/status/976188518404894720
You’ve got to keep in mind, Mitchell is probably still nostalgic for the days she was flying on Hillary Clinton’s campaign jet and the press corps would roll her questions written on an orange:
we rolled an orange to @HillaryClinton on the plane…who would you rather have dinner w…Trump or Putin? A:Putin pic.twitter.com/8PQNzKxtCH
— Tamara Gitt (@tamaragitt) September 6, 2016
Putin? NO WORDS.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with an additional tweet.
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