Jake Tapper Hits Back At Trump: He's Nastier To Me And Don Lemon Than He Is To Putin

CNN’s Jake Tapper wants to know why President Donald Trump keeps giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a free pass. 

“President Trump to this day has said nastier things publicly about me, Don Lemon, Chuck Todd, Meryl Streep and the cast of ‘Hamilton’ than he has of former KGB operative and current human rights repressor Vladimir Putin,” Tapper said. 

Trump earlier this week was reportedly given an all-caps note saying “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” before a phone call with Putin after the Russian leader won a re-election many dismissed as a sham. 

He congratulated him anyway.

Trump is reportedly angry over that detail leaking out of the West Wing. 

But Tapper wondered if Trump is missing the big picture. 

“By all means, be outraged by the leaking and the inability of a president to fully trust his team,” Tapper said, then added:

 

“But also ask yourself, when it comes to this story ― when it comes to Russian behavior and U.S.-Russian relations, and Russian cyberattacks against the American people and the inability of the millions of the Russian people to have free and fair elections, or the attempted murder of a Putin critic on British soil ― is the leaking really the most offensive thing going on here?”