Columbus Ohio, 7/22/18
By Darrel Rowland
The Columbus Dispatch
Ah, the joy of being a Republican elected official these days: Every time Mount Trump erupts, you’re supposed to have a response.
Ohio’s GOP congressmen were put in that pickle jar again last week after President Donald Trump’s news-conference remarks at the Helsinki summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin — which in turn was followed by several elaborations over ensuing days.
Do they call out the president for going too far? Or do they play it safe, perhaps by condemning only Putin/Russia, knowing that the bulk of their GOP constituents still love Trump?
At the end of a long week, here’s a sampling from social-media posts, blogs, media accounts and statements:
Bill Johnson, Marietta: I was hoping to hear the president make a stronger public statement condemning Russian attempts to interfere with the 2016 election, the evidence of which is clear … I take the president at his word (that he misspoke at the Helsinki press conference). … Let’s not forget that the evidence or the suspicions of Russian meddling into our elections came under Obama’s administration.