Washington Post editorial: What a presidential president would say about campaign dirt from a foreign foe
“I THINK you might want to listen; there isn’t anything wrong with listening. If somebody called from a country, Norway, ‘We have information on your opponent,’ oh, I think I’d want to hear it,” President Trump said in a Wednesday interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “You don’t call the FBI. . . . Give me a break — life doesn’t work that way.”
When Mr. Trump made objectionable remarks in the past, we wrote editorials imagining what a decent president would have said. We haven’t done that in a while; it is pointless to expect him to act presidential. But this instance is so disturbing that we think it is worth reminding ourselves once again of how a normal, law-respecting president would speak. Here is what a presidential president might have said:
If there is one thing the past three years have shown, the only good answer to a foreign country offering dirt on your political opponent is to decline and immediately report the offer to the FBI. Our country is still enduring the fallout from Russian interference in 2016. It has cast a pall on my presidency and led to the indictment of former senior government and campaign officials. The last thing any president should do is encourage foreign meddling in our next presidential election.