Republicans seek distance from Trump's comments on Putin, US
(AP) — President Donald Trump has long expressed a desire for improved relations with Moscow, but his latest comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin and the U.S. are leading some fellow Republicans to take a step back from the president — on this issue at least.
Told by Fox News' Bill O'Reilly during an interview that the Russian leader is "a killer," Trump said the U.S. has killers, too.
Trump has praised Putin and signaled that U.S.-Russia relations could be in for a makeover under his leadership, even after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
[...] if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS, which is a major fight, and Islamic terrorism all over the world — that's a good thing, Trump said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.
When O'Reilly says he doesn't know any U.S. government leaders who are killers, Trump said take a look at what we've done, too.
Added Sen. Ben Sasse, of Nebraska, one of Trump's Republican critics: There is no moral equivalency between the United States of America, the greatest freedom living nation in the history of the world, and the murderous thugs that are in Putin's defense of his cronyism.
Asked earlier about Trump's promised investigation, McConnell said he saw no federal role because states historically have handled voter fraud investigations.