John Bolton Snaps When Pressed About Trump Cracking Down On Russia
National Security Adviser John Bolton just had an interview with CNN’s John Berman, and he wasn’t too happy about it. When pressed about the steps President Donald Trump is taking to prevent Russian influence amid talks about the uprising in Venezuela, he lost his cool.
Bolton recently told Fox News that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a call scheduled on Wednesday with his Russian counterpart. But Berman appeared to have misheard and asked if Trump would be speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin the same day, per Politico. Bolton declined to talk about Trump-Putin communications and lashed out at Berman for trying to shift the conversation to allegations of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.
“Look, I said before I’m not going to get into the specifics to that. I think Secretary Pompeo will be addressing his counterpart. We have had a lot of conversations with the Russians, that’s for sure.”
“Because I’m reading a transcript of an interview you just did on Fox News,” Berman responded before Bolton cut him off.
“I guess, what? You want to ask me about Russian collusion — it’s just unbelievable. Let’s talk about Venezuela,” said Bolton.
Berman denied trying to shift the conversation and cited a note made from the transcript.
“The part I’m looking at right now, it says ‘Ambassador John Bolton told Fox & Friends that President Trump will call Vladimir Putin today,'” he said.
Bolton accuses CNN host of lying about a call between Trump and Putin so he can pick a fight about Russia — then gets confronted with the transcript https://t.co/S1HLuk0oSb
— AlterNet (@AlterNet) May 1, 2019
According to Pompeo, Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro was prepared to leave the country before Russia intervened and told him he could stay, highlighting the country’s role in Maduro’s grasp on power.
Previously, the Trump administration accused Russia of using the Cuban government to help them gain control over Venezuela to maintain a foothold in the Western Hemisphere.
As The Inquisitr reported, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s coup d’état against Maduro is part of the final phase of Operation Freedom. If all goes according to plan, Venezuela will be the ninth nation to undergo a successful coup since 2010 alongside Egypt, Mali, Zimbabwe, and others.
Per BBC, Maduro has remained defiant and used a TV address to claim that Guaido’s forces failed to turn the military against him. But Guaido claims that Maduro has lost control of the armed forces and called for more street protests on Wednesday.
Guaido has been recognized as interim leader of Venezuela by over 50 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and most countries in Latin America. On Wednesday, Pompeo reiterated U.S. support for Guaido and said that if necessary, military action is possible.
