Flake follows suit about ‘shameful’ summit conference
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez | Arizona Republic
Sen. John McCain blasted President Donald Trump’s joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday as “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.”
McCain’s issued statement was among a number of Republican lawmakers who were condemning Trump’s appearance in Helsinki, Finland. There, Trump seemed to accept Putin’s denials of meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, overlooking mountains of evidence gathered by U.S. intelligence officials in favor of Russia.
McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a frequent Trump critic, said in a statement that “no prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant.”
McCain, 81, is in Arizona as he battles a deadly form of brain cancer. While not on Capitol Hill, the six-term senator remains engaged.
During the Monday morning news conference, Trump said both countries were to blame for their troubled relationship and seemed to capitulate to Putin’s denials of election-meddling.
