"Here we go again," Trump says about intel reports of Russian meddling in 2020
President Trump used a political rally in Las Vegas to blast reports that U.S. intelligence warned Russia is still meddling to try to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. Mr. Trump is campaigning in Nevada on the last day of a four-day swing through the West Coast.
Intelligence officials warned lawmakers in a briefing before the House Intelligence Committee last week that the Russians are continuing their efforts to attack the democratic process and interfere in the 2020 election, and one prong is aimed at helping Mr. Trump. The president announced he was replacing former acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire days after the briefing to Congress, although it's unclear if his departure was related to the briefing.
"I see these phonies, the do-nothing Democrats. They said today that Putin wants to be sure that Trump gets elected," Mr. Trump said at his rally in Nevada. "Here we go again. Here we go again. Did you see it? ... Now I just see it again. I was told that was happening, I was told a week ago. They said you know they're trying to start a rumor. It's disinformation."
As the president was speaking, The Washington Post reported that Senator Bernie Sanders was briefed by U.S. officials that Russia is trying to help his presidential campaign. CBS News has not independently confirmed this.
The president also reveled in the reality that he's already won the Nevada primary contest by default, since the party GOP canceled its caucus. The Democrats will hold their caucus in the state on Saturday, the third primary contest in the nation.
"They have a big election tomorrow, we've already won the state. We've already won. I like ours better, we just take it, just take it. We won. I like it, that better," Mr. Trump immediately after he took the stage.
The Las Vegas rally caps off three days of rallies, with ones in Colorado, Arizona and finally Nevada. Democrats will caucus in Nevada on Saturday, but the GOP canceled their caucus.
In the Democratic field, Bernie Sanders is leading in the polls in the state. Sanders skated through the Las Vegas debate Wednesday night virtually unscathed, while everyone on stage went after Mike Bloomberg and Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg went after each other.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly attacked Bloomberg on Twitter, with the nickname "Mini Mike." Bloomberg had to face the rest of his Democratic opponents on stage for the first time, and everyone on stage took their opportunity, or opportunities, to attack him.
