Condoleezza Rice: The president and national security adviser need to be on the same page
Trump ousts National Security Adviser John Bolton; former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice weighs in.
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told an NBC anchor Wednesday it was not accurate to suggest that Russia flipped the 2016 election in President Trump's favor.
"I don’t think there is any evidence of that. And, you know, I really don’t think that’s a good conversation to have," she told NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie. Guthrie had just asked whether Russian interference "actually worked" and blocked a victory by former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
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"I think that really does devalue the people in Wisconsin and Michigan and others who decided to vote for President Trump," Rice added in her response.
"Whether you like this president or not, whether you believe that he should have been president or not, let’s give the credit to the Americans who went out and voted for somebody who they thought would bring change."
The interview came as Rice released her new book, "To Build a Better World," on the Cold War.
For years, media outlets like NBC have peppered the airwaves with stories surrounding Russian interference in the election as well as alleged collusion by the Trump campaign. Earlier in 2019, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller released a report that was unable to conclude Trump's campaign engaged in conduct that met the legal definition for conspiracy with the Russians. But congressional Democrats have seized on its findings and some have continued to claim collusion occurred.
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While appearing on NBC's "Today," Rice said that people should focus on why people voted for Trump rather than whether Russia stole the election for him.
"The question is: Are we going to be responsive to some of the messages that were out there ... people who felt that they were disadvantaged by globalization – the unemployed coal miner in West Virginia, the opioid-addicted person in Pennsylvania – are we going to be responsive to those people? That's really the question we should be asking," Rice said.
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