Graham: Trump ‘doesn’t collude with his own staff’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday cast doubt on allegations that President Trump’s campaign colluded with the Kremlin to swing the 2016 election, saying that Trump “doesn’t collude with his own staff.”

“I don’t think [Trump] colluded with the Russians because he doesn’t collude with his own staff,” Graham was quoted as saying by the Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio. 

@LindseyGrahamSC: “I don’t think @POTUS colluded with the Russians because he doesn’t collude with his own staff.”

— Susan Ferrechio (@susanferrechio) June 6, 2017

Trump has frequently made statements that contradict or call into question the words and actions of his own aides and advisers. Those contradictions entered the spotlight once again on Tuesday, when the president appeared to shoot down his staffers’ arguments that his tweets do not amount to definitive statements.

“The FAKE MSM is working so hard trying to get me not to use Social Media. They hate that I can get the honest and unfiltered message out,” Trump wrote on Twitter, using an abbreviation for “mainstream media.”

“Sorry folks, but if I would have relied on the Fake News of CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, washpost or nytimes, I would have had ZERO chance winning WH,” he tweeted minutes later.

But the president has also contradicted his aides on more serious matters. In the wake of Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey last month, the White House said that the president had acted on the recommendations of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy Rod Rosenstein.

Trump later gave his own account of the decision, however, telling NBC’s Lester Holt in an interview that he had decided to fire Comey before receiving Rosenstein’s recommendation. “I was going to fire regardless of the recommendation,” he said.

The FBI and at least four congressional committees are currently investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump has denied any improper contact with Moscow and has called the probes a “witch hunt.”