President Donald Trump is facing intense scrutiny from politicians and media pundits of all political stripes after he asserted that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin's word over the findings of the U.S. intelligence community in Monday's joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.
Even the co-hosts on the set of "Fox & Friends," Trump's favorite morning show, chimed in Tuesday with their own admission that America's Republican president "fell short" of what was required of him. In the rare rebuke, the die-hard Trump fans encouraged the president to correct the situation.
Addressing the president directly, co-host Brian Kilmeade told Trump on camera that he was wrong when he accepted Putin's denial of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election over the conclusions of his own intelligence services.
"Thanks to Robert Mueller's probe, we know the names of the 12 people at least on the Russian side who were part of the hacking into the election," Kilmeade said. "When President Trump was asked about that, he fell short."
"I have news for you: Sen. Schumer and Hillary Clinton will never get over the fact that you won the election," he added. "Neither will 16 Republicans get over the fact that you won the primary. Did the Russians help you with that?”
"From the day you came down the escalator, you shocked the world. From November, when everyone had you losing, you shocked the world," Kilmeade continued. "It wasn't because of Russia, but Russia's goal was to upend the electoral process. They hate democracy."
To drive home his point, Kilmeade mentioned that some of the president's other most ardent supporters had joined the chorus of those critiquing Trump for cozying up to Putin.
"When Newt Gingrich, when General Jack Keane, when Matt Schlapp say the president fell short and made our intelligence apparatus look bad, I think it's time to pay attention," he said. "And, it's easily correctable from the president's perspective. Nobody's perfect, especially [after] 10 intensive days of summits, private meetings and everything on his plate. But, that moment is the one that’s going to stand out unless he comes out and corrects it."
Elsewhere on the show, Kilmeade compared Trump's meeting with Putin to former President John F. Kennedy's 1961 meeting with Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev.
"Kennedy would love to have undone his first meeting with Khrushchev," Kilmeade said. "This is something that needs to be corrected."
Also on the couch Tuesday morning was Abby Huntsman, a co-host of "Fox & Friends Weekend" and the daughter of the current U.S. ambassador to Russia.
Huntsman, who joined Kilmeade in speaking out against the president's show of support for Putin, also tweeted: "No negotiation is worth throwing your own people and country under the bus."
The co-hosts only lengthened the list of conservative thought leaders who publicly criticized Trump over his trip to Helsinki.
Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ), who has consistently criticized Trump's stance toward Russia, said it "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."
"President Trump proved not only unable but unwilling to stand up to Putin," McCain said. "He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script, as the president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world."
A former CIA director, John Brennan, called Trump's performance "nothing short of treasonous."
Gingrich, who was alluded to by Kilmeade as one of the president's most outspoken fans, called Trump's praise of Putin "the most serious mistake of his presidency."
"President Trump must clarify his statements in Helsinki on our intelligence system and Putin," the former GOP speaker of the House tweeted. "It is the most serious mistake of his presidency and must be corrected—immediately."
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