Former aide: Trump equated US to ‘regime of a murderous kleptocrat’

The former chief spokesman for President Trump’s personal legal team said early Tuesday that Trump should apologize for his controversial performance at his joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he equated the U.S. to the “regime of a murderous kleptocrat.” 

Mark Corallo weighed in on Trump’s press conference in a retweet of a post agreeing with former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who said Trump must “clarify his statements in Helsinki on our intelligence system and Putin.” 

“Clarify?” Corallo asked in response. “How about apologizing for equating in any way the United States of America and the regime of a murderous kleptocrat?”

Clarify? How about apologizing for equating in any way the United States of America and the regime of a murderous kleptocrat? https://t.co/zFyp2qj9Su

— Mark Corallo (@MarkCorallo1) July 17, 2018

{mosads}Corallo’s criticism is part of a wave of backlash over the president’s apparent embrace of Putin over the Russian president’s denial of interfering in the 2016 election.

Trump drew considerable backlash from the media and lawmakers after he downplayed the Russian government’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and slammed the special counsel’s investigation. 

“The probe is a disaster for our country. I think it’s kept us separated. There was no collusion at all. Everybody knows it,” Trump said alongside Putin, just days after 12 Russian nationals were indicted on charges related to the hacking of the Democratic National Committee.  

When asked during the press conference whether he would condemn the Russian government for election interference, Trump also said he didn’t “see any reason why it would be” Russia that hacked Democrats during the 2016 election.

Corallo, a veteran GOP operative who was working on the White House defense against Mueller’s probe into election interference, reportedly resigned from Trump’s legal team last year due to growing frustration with the operation in addition to concerns over whether he was being told the truth.