Nancy Pelosi is deliberately pushing the debunked narrative that Russia put President Trump in the White House.

American elections should be decided by the American people, not by the Russian Government. Retweet if you agree! — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 14, 2020

Pelosi’s comment this afternoon follows media reports that the Kremlin hacked into Burisma, a Ukrainian oil company on the board of which Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, once sat. Assuming the reports are true, the Russians probably hacked into the Burisma server to dig up dirt on Biden and influence the 2020 presidential election or to stoke partisanship in the United States, as my colleague Tom Rogan explained here.

Democratic leaders were not briefed on the hack and learned about it when the media did, according to Pelosi, possibly because it did not come from U.S. intelligence. And now she is demanding that Trump address this blatant attempt to interfere in U.S. affairs by supporting Democratic legislation that would strengthen election security. If he doesn’t, Trump would be “giving hostile foreign powers the green light to attack our country,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Pelosi said something similar on Sunday when she suggested that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is a Russian “associate” because he blocked the election security legislation after the House passed it. But, as I explained earlier this week, McConnell sent the bill to the “legislative graveyard” not because he’s working with Russia but because he didn’t want to give credibility to the Democrats’ accusation that Trump won in 2016 only because Putin wanted him to.

McConnell’s hesitance was clearly well founded. The Democrats have not given up on the Russia hoax, even after a three-year-long investigation that definitively proved Trump had not colluded with Russia. Pelosi continues to push the collusion conspiracy theory because to give it up would legitimize Trump’s victory and his presidency, and it would make her look pretty ridiculous, too.

The Russia hoax has always been an excuse, an attempt to explain why the Democratic Party lost to a man who should not have even made it to the primary debate stage. But the suggestion that Russia decided the 2016 election and that it will do so again in 2020 is an insult to the millions of those who did vote for Trump. They made an honest choice at the voting booths, and now that decision is being discounted by Democratic politicians unwilling to learn from their mistakes.

Russia clearly intends to influence the 2020 election, and Trump should treat the Burisma hack for what it is: a threat. But Pelosi’s comment is irresponsible, and it will only further exacerbate partisan tensions. That's exactly what Putin wants.