President Donald Trump downplayed the severity of a massive hacking attack on the U.S. government Saturday and deflected blame from Russia.
After refusing for days to comment on the hack, Trump claimed it was being hyped “far greater” by the media “than in actuality.”
He also suggested Russia was not really to blame, directly contradicting American intelligence and even Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens,” Trump tweeted.
Trump floated the possibility that China could be behind the hack, tweeting: “It may be China. (it may!)”
Trump has yet to speak publicly to the nation about the hack on at least 12 government agencies, which security officials liken to an act of cyber war by Russia.
The tweets came just hours after Pompeo said “we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity in an interview on the Mark Levin Show.
The outgoing president has repeatedly refused to criticize Russia even when American intelligence blamed strongman Vladimir Putin for directing a campaign of offering bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Trump also claimed that the hacking attack might be somehow responsible for his loss in the presidential election.
He theorized that hackers may have targeted voting machines to ensure he lost, even though his own administration has admitted there is no evidence of widespread fraud.
“There could also have been a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election,” Trump tweeted.
Trump still has not admitted defeat to President-elect Joe Biden, even after his many legal challenges have been turned away and the Electoral College certified Biden’s win earlier this week.
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