The White House defended President Trump’s call
on his
, saying it’s important to keep a “dialogue” open after Sen. John McCain ripped the president for reaching out.
“The president, once again, has maintained that it’s important for us to have a dialogue with Russia so that we can focus on some areas of shared interest,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at Tuesday’s news briefing. “At the same time, we are going to continue to be tough on them.”
After Trump said he “had a very good call” with Putin, McCain blasted the president in a tweet.
“An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections,” McCain posted. “And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election.”
In 2012, former President Obama also called Putin to congratulate him.
Putin sailed to victory on Sunday, amassing 77 percent of the vote in an election his opponents said was marred by widespread voting irregularities, including ballot stuffing and voter coercion.
Asked if Russia had “free and fair” elections, Sanders said the US can’t “dictate” what happens in other countries.
“What we do know is that Putin has been elected in their country, and that’s not something that we can dictate to them how they operate,” she said.
