Trump 'Prefers Dictatorships To Democracies': Malinowski

Central Jersey congressional candidate Tom Malinowski reacted to President Trump's controversial remarks at a Monday news conference, saying he "prefers dictatorships to democracies" when he sided with Vladimir Putin and denied the Russians were responsible for meddling in the 2016 election, despite that conclusion from U.S. intelligence agencies.

"I have great confidence in my intelligence people," Trump said during the news conference in Helsinki. "But I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."

Malinowski who is a Democratic challenger for the District-7 seat and human rights activist said Trump "trusts America’s enemies more than the patriots of our intelligence and law enforcement communities."

"For more than 18 months Republican leaders in the house have enabled the president to chip away at the public’s trust in our law enforcement and have done nothing to stop him,” said Malinowski. “They have put party over county and are 100 percent complicit in his attacks on the people, principles and institutions that keep our country safe, and our democracy strong.”

Trump's comments on the election meddling and his willingness to publicly excuse Putin on a national stage drew widespread outrage, including from lawmakers in the Republican party.

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona — a longtime Trump critic — responded to the president's comments by calling them disgraceful.

"Today's press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory," McCain said Monday. "The damage inflicted by President Trump's naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake."

The White House was in damage-control mode Tuesday. Trump was scheduled to meet with members of Congress.

Intelligence director Dan Coats, who issued a strongly worded statement that Russia did interfere in the election, reaffirmed his commitment to "provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security."

"The role of the Intelligence Community is to provide the best information and fact-based assessments possible for the President and policymakers. We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security," Coats said in the statement.

(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

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