Trump's 'blind spot' for Russia partially responsible for Kremlin's alleged cyberattack, Romney suggests

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Sunday that Russia's alleged cyberattack on U.S. federal agencies and companies is a "wake up call," and he argued the U.S. "will have to really rethink our military and national security readiness when it comes to cyberspace because this is the warfare of the future."

He told CNN's Jake Tapper during an appearance on State of the Union that he believes Russia "acts with impunity with regards to these cyberattacks" for three reasons. The first is that Moscow doesn't think the U.S. has "the capacity to respond in like measure" and secondly "they also recognize that our defense is inadequate." Finally, he said, they've learned that "what will come from the White House" in response to such activity "will not be the kind of rhetoric which would be jarring."

On that last point, Romney said President Trump has "a blind spot when it comes to Russia," noting he wasn't surprised by Trump's remarks on the matter Saturday, in which the president suggested Beijing, rather than Moscow, may have been behind the attack. While there will need to be a full investigation into the hack, Romney pointed out that the intelligence community strongly believes the Kremlin was the perpetrator. Tim O'Donnell

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up