Kamala Harris Calls Donald Trump's Reported Belief of Vladimir Putin Over U.S. Intelligence Reports 'Irresponsible and Shameful'

Senator Kamala Harris minced no words on Monday during a 2020 presidential campaign stop in New Hampshire.

The California Democrat was questioned about her reaction to a 60 Minutes interview in which former Acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe said that President Donald Trump chose to believe Russian President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence reports about nuclear missiles in North Korea.

"Essentially, the president said he did not believe that the North Koreans had the capability to hit us here with ballistic missiles in the United States," McCabe said. "And he did not believe that because President Putin had told him they did not. President Putin had told him that the North Koreans don't actually have those missiles.

"Intelligence officials in the briefing responded that that was not consistent with any of the intelligence our government possesses, to which the president replied, 'I don't care. I believe Putin,'" McCabe said after CBS's Scott Pelley asked him what intelligence officials shared with the president.

While Trump called McCabe a liar in a Monday morning tweet storm, Harris had a far different reaction.

"The idea that the president of the United States would take the word of the head of Russia over the head of the intelligence community, or any members of the intelligence community, is the height of irresponsibility and shameful," Harris told CBS News's Bo Erickson.

NEW: @KamalaHarris responds to @60Minutes McCabe intvw “The idea that the president of the US would take the word of [Putin] over the intel community is the height of irresponsibility and shameful” pic.twitter.com/Kr3z6r8Wqv

— Bo Erickson CBS (@BoKnowsNews) February 18, 2019

McCabe told 60 Minutes that Trump's reputed response was "an astounding thing to say."

"To spend the time and effort and energy that we all do in the intelligence community, to produce products that will help decision-makers and the ultimate decision maker, the president of the United States, make policy decisions. And to be confronted with an absolute disbelief in those efforts and an unwillingness to learn the true state of affairs that he has to deal with every day was just shocking," McCabe said.

On Monday, GOP strategist Rick Wilson told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace that he thought Republicans would "double and triple down" in supporting the president, despite McCabe's allegations.

"Republicans of good conscience, conservatives of good conscience need to say, 'Hey, this guy says he believes Vladimir Putin over the entire American intelligence apparatus. This guy doesn't just behave like maybe he's compromised.' Right now in the eyes of guys like McCabe and [James] Comey, who are serious people, who are these cartoon figures –" Wilson said. "They're all looking at all of Trump's behavior that's public and the things they know in private that we don't even know about yet, intelligence intercepts, et cetera, and they're asking 'if Donald Trump isn't compromised by Vladimir Putin, how can you tell?' At every turn, he takes Russia's side, defends them constantly, engages in behavior and policy that help Russia and Putin over and over again."

Harris told Erickson that she found McCabe's allegation "deeply troubling."

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