The early reaction from Capitol Hill was not positive. “An American president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections,” Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., said in a blistering statement Tuesday afternoon. “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 to determine their country’s future, including the countless Russian patriots who have risked so much to protest and resist Putin’s regime.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, asked by NBC about the message Trump was sending with Tuesday’s call, said “the president can call whomever he chooses,” but added: “When I look at a Russian election, what I see is a lack of credibility in tallying the results. … Calling [Putin] wouldn’t have been high on my list.”
The call between the U.S. and Russian leaders came the same day that the Senate Intelligence Committee released their recommendations for improving U.S. election infrastructure and preventing further hacks or meddling by foreign actors in a report that listed Russian efforts to undermine the 2016 U.S. election process.
“The Russians were relentless in attempting to meddle in the 2016 elections, and they will continue their efforts to undermine public confidence in Western democracies and in the legitimacy of our elections,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said at a news conference Tuesday.
The committee will hold an open hearing Wednesday about efforts to improve election security, as well as state-by-state cybersecurity efforts.