Philadelphia

America second.

Donald Trump, Republican nominee for president, running on protecting American sovereignty and putting "America First", called Wednesday for a foreign power to intervene in the U.S. presidential election with the hope of damaging his opponent. The extraordinary comments set Trump campaign and Republican Party staffers scrambling behind the scenes to devise an explanation and prompted Trump's running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, to release a statement distancing himself from the nominee before Trump even finished his press conference.

It was an incredible statement, even by standards of a presidential candidate who has, in just the last week, suggested that the United States would not meet its commitments to NATO allies in the event of a Russian attack, and floated once again the possibility that Ted Cruz's father was involved with Lee Harvey Oswald in the months before the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

In the opening minutes of his press availability in Florida, Trump was asked about the possibility that Russia had hacked into the Democratic National Committee's email system. Rather than denounce foreign meddling in the presidential election, Trump encouraged Russia's espionage services to release Hillary Clinton's email to the public if they had perpetrated the attack. "By the way, if they hacked, the probably have her 33,000 emails. I hope they do," Trump said. "They probably have her 33,000 emails that she lost and deleted, because you'd see some beauties there. So let's see."



Later, Trump repeated his plea. Looking directly into the camera, Trump said: "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing, I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let's see if that happens. That'll be next."

On top of his direct call for foreign influence in the U.S. presidential election, Trump contradicted his earlier statements about his relationship with Vladimir Putin and with other prominent Russians. "I have nothing to do with Putin," Trump said Wednesday. "I've never spoken to him. I don't know anything about him other than that he will respect me."

Last fall, Trump said that he'd gotten to know Putin "very well" when the two men appeared on the same episode of 60 Minutes. At the Fox Business debate on November 10, 2015, Trump was asked about Russia's intervention in Ukraine and Syria. "What does President Trump do in response to Russia's aggression?"

Here was his answer: "Well, first of all, it's not only Russia. We have problems with North Korea where they actually have nuclear weapons. You know, nobody talks about it, we talk about Iran, and that's one of the worst deals ever made. One of the worst contracts ever signed, ever, in anything, and it's a disgrace. But, we have somebody over there, a madman, who already has nuclear weapons we don't talk about that. That's a problem. China is a problem, both economically in what they're doing in the South China Sea, I mean, they are becoming a very, very major force. So, we have more than just Russia. But, as far as the Ukraine is concerned, and you could Syria—as far as Syria, I like—if Putin wants to go in, and I got to know him very well because we were both on 60 Minutes, we were stablemates, and we did very well that night. But, you know that. But, if Putin wants to go and knocked the hell out of ISIS, I am all for it, 100 percent, and I can't understand how anybody would be against it…"

Trump was lying about meeting Putin when both did 60 Minutes. CBS anchor Scott Pelley interviewed Trump in New York City. CBS This Morning host Charlie Rose interviewed Putin in Moscow. Why did he lie? To give the 15 million viewers that night that he was close to Putin. Why did he do that?

After his most recent comments, and after hurried consultations behind the scenes about how to spin them, Trump supporters settled on the claim that he was joking both times he called for Russian interference. Newt Gingrich, who has repeatedly shown an eager willingness to debase himself by explaining Trump's indefensible statements, tweeted: "The media seems more upset by Trump's joke about Russian hacking than by the fact that Hillary's personal server was vulnerable to Russia."

Even if he's right about the media nonchalance concerning Hillary Clinton's server, it's rather generous of Gingrich to explain away Trump's call for Russian electoral help as a jocular aside, seeing as he made the same point in response to two separate questions. And when asked if he would discourage Russia from interfering, Trump said: "I'm not going to tell Putin what to do. Why should I tell Putin what to do?" And, finally, if Trump had been joking, it's hard to explain why his running mate immediately released a statement distancing himself from Trump's comments and attempting to reassure those alarmed by them.

The statement from Pence reads: "The FBI will get to the bottom of who is behind the hacking. If it is Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences. That said, the Democrats singularly focusing on who might be behind it and not addressing the basic fact that they've been exposed as a party who not only rigs the government, but rigs elections while literally accepting cash for federal appointments is outrageous. The American people now have absolute and further proof of the corruption that exists around Hillary Clinton. It should disqualify her from office, if the media did their job."

Republican politicians were slow to condemn Trump's remarks. In a statement in response to Trump's comments, a spokesman for House speaker Paul Ryan warned the Russians about interfering in U.S. elections but said nothing about Trump or his comments. "Russia is a global menace led by a devious thug," said Brendan Buck. "Putin should stay out of this election."

It's hard to rank Donald Trump's irresponsible comments and behavior since he entered this race a little more than a year ago and the litany is familiar—suggesting Mexican immigrants are rapists, mocking Carly Fiorina's face, ridiculing John McCain and POWs who are captured, hinting that Megyn Kelly was menstruating when she asked him tough questions, poking fun of Heidi Cruz's looks, banning Muslims from entering the United States, floating the possibility of Rafael Cruz's involvement in the JFK assassination, etc. As offensive—and sometimes insane—as those comments have been, openly encouraging cyberattacks on political opponents by an emerging enemy seems to be another new low. And Trump's behavior makes clear that for all of his talk about putting "America first," he is, yet again, putting Donald Trump first.

Will any Republican endorser of Trump withdraw his or her support? Or will Republicans—as a party and as individuals—offer with their silence tacit support for Trump's call for Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election?

If history is any guide, the answers will be, respectively, "No" and "Yes."

America second.