CNN reports that President Donald Trump, a week after downplaying Russian interference in US elections, said Tuesday he is “very concerned” that Russia will look to impact the 2018 midterm elections and said he believes Moscow will look to boost Democrats this time.
Trump offered no evidence for his claim that Russia would look to help Democrats win in 2018 beyond claiming he has been tougher on Russia than his predecessors.
“I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats,” Trump tweeted Tuesday. “They definitely don’t want Trump!”
I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018
While Putin denied any Russian interference last week, he confirmed that he did want Trump to win the presidency “because he talked about bringing the US-Russia relationship back to normal.”
Still, Trump’s tweet Tuesday is the US President’s firmest confirmation to date of ongoing Russian attempts to interfere in the US democratic process.Asked last week whether he agreed with Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats’ assessment that the Russian threat is ongoing, Trump offered only tepid support.
