White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin was getting his talking points about President Obama from Donald Trump, after the Russian president speculated that Obama was purposely trying to “delegitimize” the president-elect.
“First of all it sounds like he got his copy of the talking points … it certainly sounds like what the incoming administration’s team is saying,” Earnest said, in response to reporters during the White House Press briefing.
“Of course it’s not true,” Earnest added. He pointed out it wasn’t the first time that Putin had questioned the motives of the United States government during the Obama presidency.
Earnest also disapproved of Trump’s decision to clash with the intelligence agencies in the United States, including outgoing CIA director John Brennan, calling it “deeply misguided.”
“I’m offended by it,” he said, citing Brennan’s record of service in the intelligence community.