Mediaite reports:
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted to reporters today that President Trump has accepted that Russia meddled in the election. The first question of the press briefing, from NBC News’ Kristen Welker, concerned whether President Trump finally accepts that Russia meddled and influenced the 2016 election.
“One of the places where you guys seem to get very confused––and it seems to happen regularly––the President hasn’t said that Russian didn’t meddle. What he’s saying is it didn’t have an impact and it certainly wasn’t with help from the Trump campaign. It’s also very clear that Russia meddled in the election. It’s also very clear it didn’t have an impact on the election, and it’s also very clear the Trump campaign didn’t collude with the Russians in any way.”
The Wall Street Journal reports:
The White House said Tuesday there was “an incident” last week which will be revealed in the coming days that will show how President Donald Trump is “tough on Russia.” Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the comment at the daily briefing, but offered no more details. Trump has suggested on Twitter that President Barack Obama’s administration didn’t do enough to counter meddling in the 2016 election, and called himself “much tougher on Russia than Obama.”
Sarah Sanders on President Trump: “He has been tougher on Russia in the first year than Obama was in eight years combined.” pic.twitter.com/wUAyqBtskq
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 20, 2018
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders when asked if Pres. Trump acknowledges Russians tried to meddle in 2016 election: “It’s very clear that Russia meddled in the election.” https://t.co/c8WxE0BwjS pic.twitter.com/o2cX1aDuLy
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 20, 2018