Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is backtracking comments he made Wednesday encouraging Russian hackers to find emails deleted from Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton’s email server.
In a pre-taped Fox and Friends interview Thursday, Trump said his original comments were “sarcastic” and not an actual suggestion.
“Of course I’m being sarcastic,” he told Fox’s Brian Kilmeade. “And they don’t even know, frankly, if it’s Russia, if it’s China, if it’s someone else. Who knows who it is?”
Trump tells @kilmeade that he was being sarcastic about his Russia comments this morning: pic.twitter.com/hGbSqmle5Y
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) July 28, 2016
Trump and his campaign defended the original comments Wednesday, saying he meant that Clinton’s server was probably already hacked and that if those alleged hackers had her emails then they should turn deleted emails over to U.S. law enforcement.
If Russia or any other country or person has Hillary Clinton's 33,000 illegally deleted emails, perhaps they should share them with the FBI!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2016
2/7 The U.S. was totally exposed here. Who knows how many countries hacked into Clinton’s secret server?
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) July 27, 2016
3/7 To be clear, Mr. Trump did not call on, or invite, Russia or anyone else to hack Hillary Clinton’s e-mails today.
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) July 27, 2016
4/7 Trump was clearly saying that if Russia or others have Clinton’s 33,000 illegally deleted emails, they should share them w/ FBI immed.
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) July 27, 2016
It’s possible Trump was alluding to a false report that hackers breached Hillary Clinton’s servers.
Trump’s original comments didn’t mention the FBI or Russia turning over emails to law enforcement: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you find the 33,000 emails that are missing. I think you’ll be rewarded mightily by our press!”
The real estate mogul began walking back his comments after Democrats and high-ranking members of the GOP, including running partner Mike Pence, released statements that explicitly and implicitly criticized Trump’s comments.
During his speech at the DNC Convention Wednesday night, former CIA director Leon Panetta addressed Trump’s call to foreign hackers saying, “Donald Trump today once again took Russia’s side…In an unstable world, we cannot afford unstable leadership.”