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Democrats seize President Trump's friendly remarks to Russia during his meeting this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, and many vulnerable Republicans have even broken ranks to join the critics.
There was an almost unanimous condemnation of the president's comments on the left, even in the red states where Democrats usually walk on a thin line to challenge Trump. But it was a more complicated terrain for Republicans in tough elections, as Trump remains popular among the grassroots.
Here is a sample of how some of the most vulnerable incumbents and candidates deal with fallout:
Republicans breaking up with Trump
Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., Was one of the first Republicans to call for an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections and Trump's dismissal of FBI director James Comey. After Trump's press conference, he tweeted to call it "embarrassing" to see an "American president take the side of a Russian dictator on US intelligence agencies."
Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., Said after Monday's press conference that Trump "was wrong, we can not trust Putin's word." Lance was one of the first Republicans to team up with the Democrats to punish Russia for electoral interference.
Rep. Kevin Cramer, RN.D., who is the GOP candidate running against Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp, told CNN that "President Trump is harder to defend than he is." sometimes". He added that Trump should have been "more energetic" and outrageous about describing Russian and US intelligence as "morally equivalent".
Republicans refuse to criticize Trump
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley's spokesman, Kelli Ford, framed the debate as one of the 2016 elections in a statement at the Springfield News-Leader. "President Trump won, Hillary lost … It's time for Democrats and the media to move on, and the president should continue to be energetic with Russia." Hawley runs against Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill in the GOP leaning state.
Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., Criticized the Obama administration for being too weak on Russia in a Facebook post responding to the press conference. He argued that while America "should unequivocally oppose foreign government interference in our elections," the Obama administration's "foreign policy failures have encouraged Putin."
Democrats in the attack
Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat of Virginia running against Brat, called him for choosing "the allegiance of his party on our country "in a tweet responding to the declaration of Brat . Spanberger is a former CIA agent.
McCaskill lashed out at Trump's claim that his "statements go against the consensus of the intelligence community, the national intelligence director, the special advisor, and a bipartisan investigation by the Senate Intelligence ".
Heitkamp has largely sung in agreement with his opponent, Cramer, in his own statement. She called it a "sad day" when the "US President stood with Russia on our own country".
And the representative Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, tweeted that Trump "turned his back on this country" and told the Dallas Morning News that he "would vote" to dismiss the president "after the meeting. .
Courtney Buble contributed to this report.
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