US President Donald Trump’s performance at a recent meeting with his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, earned the former praise from top conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus, according to The Hill.
Rep. Warren Davidson announced that the fact that the summit took place is good news in itself, as "it was good for the president to be engaged in diplomacy."
"The reality is people are upset about what President Trump has said but they’re not giving him credit for what he’s done," Davidson declared.
Rep. Andy Biggs also criticized journalists who bombarded Trump with questions over alleged Russian collusion and election interference.
"I thought it was really odd that a reporter in Helsinki, Finland, after the conclusion of a brief summit would ask President Trump the question that triggered the whole odd reaction that the summit was a failure because President Trump didn’t castigate and attack Vladimir Putin. I thought that was interesting and just a little unsettling. I thought it was also bizarre as I was watching someone asked a question whether Vladimir Putin had anything on the president and his family – you know what gave me a little angst over that? The idiocy over those two questions," he declared.
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His sentiments were echoed by Rep. Ralph Norman who berated Senator John McCain for describing the summit as "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory," and former CIA Director John Brennan for calling Trump’s comments treasonous.
Instead, Norman argued, the media should focus on the positive aspects of the meeting between the two world leaders.
"This president is great at reading people – he knows that Mr. Putin is not a choir boy, he’s not an angel. He’ll do whatever he can to advance Russia, but I’m glad we’ve got the summit and I wish they [the media] would focus on the positive aspects of his actions," he said.
While the presidents hailed the summit as successful and productive, the joint press conference of the heads of state sparked criticism among many current and former US officials. Particularly, ex-CIA chief Brennan lashed out at Trump, calling his performance "treasonous," while Senator Lindsey Graham slammed the speech as a "missed opportunity" to hold Russia accountable for alleged meddling in the 2016 election.
On the eve of the summit, the Justice Department indicted 12 suspected Russian intelligence officers on suspicions that they were involved in cyber attacks on the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign.
