‘What The Hell Is Going On?!’ Tapper Dumbstruck Over Constant Reversals By White House On Russia
Over the past few days, the White House and President Donald Trump have had to correct and clarify a bunch of ‘misstatements’ by the president as it relates to Russia and Vladimir Putin. These include Trump’s “double negative” excuse to explain away his siding with Putin over the American intelligence agencies, Sarah Sanders claiming Trump was answering another question when he said he doesn’t think Russia is currently targeting America, and Thursday’s statement reversing course on Putin’s proposal to interrogate Americans in Russia.
The administration’s constant clean-ups of Trump’s recent Russia-friendly remarks caused CNN anchor Jake Tapper to basically throw his hands in the air and ask “what the hell is going on.”
After addressing Trump’s attempted walk-backs, Tapper turned to senior national correspondent Alex Marquardt to break down all the latest developments — which were plenty. Following Marquardt’s hit in which he highlighted Trump calling Putin’s proposal an “incredible offer” while noting that Sanders said the president would “meet with his team” to decide whether they’d hand ex-Ambassador Michael McFaul over to Putin, Tapper let loose.
“What the hell is going on?!” Tapper exclaimed, addressing his panel as they burst out in laughter. “Seriously, what the hell is going on?”
Looking at former Mitch McConnell chief of staff Josh Holmes, Tapper was just flabbergasted at the White House’s statement claiming Trump disagreed with Putin’s proposal that also noted the Russian president offered it up “in sincerity.”
“Sincerity?!” Tapper declared. “A sincere offer from Putin?! An incredible offer?!”
“That’s kind of my reaction, too,” Holmes responded, adding that he thinks the White House tried to send a message they were serious about the 12 Russian recently indicted while trying to communicate they had given validity to Putin’s proposal.
“I don’t know anyone who thinks that would be anywhere remotely acceptable to even have the conversation about,” he noted. “You don’t send diplomats over to interrogated for crimes.”
Watch the clip above, via CNN.
