Democrats weren’t so eager to move on, however. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was among the first to call for Trump to cancel the summit, warning that, “Glad-handing with Vladimir Putin on the heels of these indictments would be an insult to our democracy.”
Other Democrats soon joined Schumer. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that Trump’s refusal to condemn Putin “makes it clear that meeting with Putin would be both pointless and dangerous.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., admonished Trump not to meet with Putin, saying the Russian leader “will undoubtedly take full advantage of an ill-prepared President.
He added: “If the Administration is unwilling to make the facts laid out in today’s indictment a top priority for that discussion, then that meeting shouldn’t happen.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she supported Schumer’s call to cancel the summit. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., joined the fray, too.
“Trump should cancel the meeting or make it an open meeting, confronting Putin on his aggression & taking measures to hold them accountable,” Booker said. The New Jersey Democrat, a member of the Senate’s foreign relations and judiciary committees, is considered a potential contender for his party’s presidential nomination in 2020.