‘Hoax!’ Trump hits back at latest claims that Russia will ‘aid’ his 2020 campaign
US President Donald Trump has slammed the recently reported (but unsubstantiated) claims that Russia will interfere to help him win the 2020 presidential election, saying the rumors are just “another misinformation campaign.”
The New York Times and other media reported on Thursday that Moscow is "aiding" Trump in the upcoming election, citing only anonymous intelligence officials.
Cable networks like MSNBC and CNN instantly amplified the unverified claims, setting in motion another round of 'Russiagate' conspiracy theorizing, almost eleven months after the two-year-long Mueller investigation found no evidence of alleged ‘collusion’ between Trump and Russian officials.
© Reuters / Kevin Lamarque
Tweeting on Friday, Trump slammed the latest reports as a misinformation campaign he said was “being launched by Democrats in Congress.”
The party, he said, were claiming that Russia preferred him over “any of the Do Nothing Democrat candidates who still have been unable to, after two weeks, count their votes in Iowa” — a reference to the botched Iowa caucus count, where a winner has yet to be officially named.
The meddling allegations were dismissed by a spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. Dmitry Peskov said the rumors "don't have anything in common with the truth" and spring from a place of "paranoia."