Krauthammer: Timing of Russia Sanctions ‘Ridiculous,’ Obama Actions ‘Adolescent’

Thursday on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer weighed in on President Barack Obama’s sanctions levied on Russia for the nation’s alleged hacking to sway the outcome of last month’s presidential election.

Krauthammer advised Trump not to downplay it as he had, saying it made him look defensive.

“It doesn’t help him; it makes him look defensive,” he added. “It’s not going to have any effect on the outcome. Once there’s a change in presidencies, this is not going to be a major issue. The sanctions are so ridiculously small and tit-for-tat. You can be sure the Russians are going to expel an equal number of Americans.”

He went on to added the timing of the sanctions after an election makes Obama’s actions look less consequential.

“And the timing is ridiculous.” Krauthammer said. “If you’re going to do this, you do it when it happens. You don’t say to Vladimir Putin during an election, ‘Cut it out.’ I mean this is adolescent. You say there will be consequences and you make them stick. So, I think it’s a fairly trivial affair. Look, the Russians — they stole our mail, they read our mail, they published our mail. That’s called espionage. You’re not supposed to do that. You do it, we punish you. That should have been done 18 months ago. You send a signal to the Chinese, the Iranians and others we will punish you. This is a slap on the wrist. It will pass and there is no reason for Trump to downplay it.”

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