Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) has been making the media rounds over the last few weeks to discuss all things impeachment, but one thing he’s alleged that has gotten the most attention from the mainstream media and their Democratic allies is that Ukraine also interfered in the 2016 election.
The most recent interview he did where he repeated the allegation was during an exchange with NBC’s Chuck Todd on Sunday where Todd claimed Kennedy had been “duped”:
NBC host Chuck Todd pushed back at the Louisiana Republican by saying that the US intelligence community had concluded that Russia was behind the interference and that Russian President Vladimir Putin was pushing the Ukraine angle to get the Kremlin off the hook.
“I think both Russia and Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election. I think it’s been well documented in the Financial Times, in Politico, in The Economist, in the Washington Examiner, even on CBS,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy also pointed to a report in the New York Times that said a Ukrainian court had ruled in December 2018 that some of the country’s officials violated Ukraine law by interfering in the election.
[…]
“You have done exactly what the Russian operation is trying to get American politicians to do. Are you at all concerned that you’ve been duped?” Todd asked.
Axios was among many news outlets that reported on the Todd/Kennedy interview, with many of them (erroneously) stating the claims were debunked, discredited, etc.:
Sen. John Kennedy argued in a testy exchange with NBC’s Chuck Todd that “both Russia and Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election,” claiming without evidence that former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko “actively worked” for Hillary Clinton. https://t.co/u4jrGm73HM
— Axios (@axios) December 1, 2019
Clinton caught wind of the Axios report and tweeted out some questions for Kennedy:
Sen. Kennedy, why are you parroting Russian propaganda that U.S. intelligence officials tell us are designed to divide our country? Did you miss the briefing that day? https://t.co/mzmMYHTlSp
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 2, 2019
Kennedy responded in kind:
Bless your heart, Madame Secretary. I hope you are well.
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) December 2, 2019
Beyond the “bless your heart” greeting, though, is the audacity of Hillary Clinton complaining about others dividing the country and spreading conspiracy theories about the 2016 election, which she lost fair and square but still refuses to accept:
No one is more responsible for current partisan division than you, @HillaryClinton
You could have accepted defeat in 2016 with grace and dignity
Instead you disseminated an absurd conspiracy theory – that Trump was a Russian agent – to excuse your slipshod campaign
For shame!
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) December 2, 2019
YOU laundered campaign funds through Perkins Coie to funnel payments to Fusion GPS to pay a foreign national, who procured Russian intelligence to create the infamous, fake Russian dossier to start a federal investigation on your political adversary.
Sit this one out, cupcake. https://t.co/Myp8ZKGYVs
— thebradfordfile™ (@thebradfordfile) December 2, 2019
Thank you for never visiting Wisconsin — not even once — after the primaries.#BlessYourHeart
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) December 2, 2019
Give me a break. You had every big money and media ally on your side, and the DNC pushing your candidacy and propping up Trump because he would be “easier” to defeat.
Have some actual self reflection rather than blaming 4,000 Russian-made memes. pic.twitter.com/3b9jvivTch
— Nicole Alexander Fisher (@_nalexander) December 2, 2019
There isn’t any evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 election either.
Not a single vote was changed.
— Carpe Donktum? (@CarpeDonktum) December 2, 2019
Not only that, but there’s the little matter of Kennedy being right on the number of credible media reports about Ukraine’s interference in the 2016 election:
Andrea Mitchell can say otherwise, but the facts laid out by The Federalist’s Chrissy Clark are real articles with real claims about Ukrainians wanting Hillary Clinton to win (including that infamous Politico item).
Silly me. I forgot that election interference by a foreign country only matters when Democrats and the media say it does.
Via RedState
