WASHINGTON — Eight days into the uproar over Donald Trump's surprisingly gentle stance toward Vladimir Putin, Sen. Ted Cruz again tweaked him for "apologizing for Russia" at last week's summit and sending mixed messages about U.S. resolve toward foes that meddle in American elections.

"President Trump made a mistake with Putin. He should have been more vigorous in that news conference. I think it's a bad idea for the president not to be visibly and vocally standing up to Russia," Cruz told Fox News host Neil Cavuto. "We need to continue focusing on defending this nation, and not be in a position of treating America and Russia as morally equivalent — not be in a position of apologizing for Russia."

Cruz emphasized that he's pleased at some of the tough actions the United States has taken against Russia during Trump's 18 months as president, imposing sanctions and sending lethal military aid to help Ukraine fend off its neighbor. Trump resisted congressional demands to impose penalties on Russia.

The Texas Republican, one of Trump's most ardent allies in Congress, has rarely criticized him in public — once they set aside the nastiness of the 2016 primaries, when Trump labeled him "lyin' Ted" and Cruz called the future president a "pathological liar."

At a summit in Helsinki, Trump downplayed Russia's election meddling, seeming to embrace Putin's denials over the universal judgment of U.S. spy agencies.

That night, Cruz indicated his disapproval of Trump's performance, telling a CNN reporter that "it's a mistake to be apologizing for Vladimir Putin."

His challenger in the fall, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, blasted Cruz for failing to adequately denounce Trump, and said he viewed the summit as fresh evidence to support an effort to remove the president.

To stand with Putin, "who wants to and has sought to undermine this country, and to side with him over the United States — if I were asked to vote on this I would vote to impeach the president," O'Rourke said.

With Putin at his side in Finland, Trump was asked whether he would denounce Russia's meddling in 2016 and warn Putin not to do it again.

After pivoting to his oft-repeated complaint that Hillary Clinton's email server didn't get enough law enforcement attention, Trump said: "He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."

A full day later, Trump insisted that he'd misspoken and really meant to say "wouldn't" instead of "would."

But he didn't leave it at that, and he reiterated his theory — rejected by the U.S. intelligence community and by lawmakers in both parties — that it "could be other people also. A lot of people out there."

Asked if he had directed Russian officials to help Trump win, Putin said at the news conference that he had: "Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Because he talked about bringing the U.S.-Russia relationship back to normal."

John Brennan, a former CIA director, deemed Trump's performance at the summit so egregious as to support charges of impeachment, tweeting that "It was nothing short of treasonous. ... He is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???"

1 / 2From left: Former CIA Director John Brennan; former FBI Director James Comey; former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper; former CIA chief Michael Hayden; then Acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe; then National Security Advisor Susan Rice. The White House said July 23, 2018, that President Donald Trump was looking into revoking the security clearances of Brennan and other prominent critics, after Brennan described his behavior at a summit with Vladimir Putin as "nothing short of treasonous." 2 / 2Senator Ted Cruz at the Senate on July 17, 2018.(ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Getty Images)

On Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced that Trump will try to strip Brennan's security clearance, and those of five other former officials who have criticized him: former FBI director James Comey, former CIA director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former National Security Agency director Michael Hayden, Obama national security adviser Susan Rice, and Andrew McCabe, a former deputy director of the FBI.

Critics have labeled that petty retribution. Some question whether the president, who has clear authority to declassify the nation's secrets, also has the power to grant or revoke an individual's security clearance.

Cruz came to Trump's defense, saying former officials shouldn't keep their clearance.

"If you're not in that role anymore, if you're doing something else in the private sector, it's not clear that should be maintained," he told Fox, adding that Brennan's allegation of treason went too far.

Trump insisted Tuesday that Russia will try to tip the upcoming U.S. elections toward Democrats.

I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018

"This is a divided time. For all of us it's painful to see just how polarized and nasty it is," Cruz said. "But it doesn't help the national security interest when you have someone like John Brennan, the former head of the CIA, who begins screaming that the president has committed treason. That kind of overheated rhetoric is not productive, it's not helpful. And it just tears us apart."

He again took Trump to task, though, when asked about Trump's tweet on Tuesday suggesting that Russia will try to help Democrats in the midterm elections.

"There is a virtue in clarity in foreign policy. Clarity in standing with our friends and clarity in standing up to our enemies. Putin is a KGB thug. It's not complicated. He's not a complicated man," Cruz said. "We need to be standing up against Russian hostility. ... Our elections need to be protected and Putin needs to stay away. That needs to be clear and unequivocal."