Boris Johnson blows up Trump-Russia narrative, silencing CNN's Jake Tapper

 

Tapper served up an opportunity for Johnson to characterize Trump as a Russian stooge. He did the exact opposite.

CNN talking head Jake Tapper gave former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson an opportunity this week to help the American media establishment advance its latest Trump-Russia smear.

Johnson, whose time as prime minister and foreign secretary overlapped Trump's first four years in the White House, not only proved unwilling to cosign the narrative but highlighted President Donald Trump's historic efforts to keep Russia in check — something the Biden-Harris administration has alternatively had difficulty with.

Johnson went on CNN to promote his new memoir, "Unleashed." While nominally interested in discussing the former prime minister's book, Tapper appeared far more intent on exploring some of the more sensational allegations in Bob Woodward's forthcoming book, particularly the disputed claim — from yet another unnamed source — that Trump has spoken to Putin as many as seven times since leaving the White House.

 

Democratic operatives and the liberal media are desperate to make something of this allegation. Former Obama U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, for instance, gladly leaped to the conclusion Tuesday that Trump had violated the Logan Act, thereby committing a crime.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has also given the rumor oxygen, claiming, "If it is true, it is indeed concerning."

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told The Hill, "None of ... these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true," adding that Woodward "suffers from a debilitating case of Trump derangement syndrome."

Woodward might have a chip on his shoulder on account of the president's $50 million lawsuit for releasing audio recordings of their interviews without consent.

"CNN is also reporting that in Woodward's book, according to a Trump aide, there have been multiple phone calls between former President Trump and Vladimir Putin. Maybe as many as seven since Trump left the White House in 2021," said Tapper. "What's your reaction to that?"

"I don't know if that's true, and I'm certainly not privy to the contents of those sorts of conversations," said Johnson.

"What I can tell our viewers is that when I had dealings with President Trump over Russia, like when the Russians poisoned people in the U.K., it was actually the Trump administration that really ... exceeded expectations. They expelled 60 Russian spies. It was the Trump administration that actually gave Ukrainians lethal weaponry — the Javelin missiles to use against Putin's troops."

After Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal and his adult daughter were poisoned in 2018, Trump ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats whom his administration identified as intelligence agents. He also had the Russian consulate in Seattle closed.

'Had he been president in 2022, there would have been no Russian invasion of Ukraine.'

As for the Javelins, Trump approved a plan to send the anti-tank missile systems to Ukraine in December 2017 — a step that former President Barack Obama had avoided, even when Russia annexed Crimea under his watch.

There was a pregnant silence after Johnson concluded his defense of Trump's record on Russia. Tapper then awkwardly changed the topic to the prime minister's book.

This is not the first time in recent days that the former prime minister has defended Trump.

In a recent interview with Britain's Times Radio, Johnson suggested Putin would not have invaded Ukraine on Trump's watch.

"I happen to believe that when Donald Trump says that had he been president in 2022, there would have been no Russian invasion of Ukraine, my view is that that is a credible assertion. I really do think that's credible," said Johnson.

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