Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) explained to ‘Meet the Press’ host Chuck Todd that he believes Ukraine, as well as Russia, meddled in the 2016 election. Upon his assertion that Ukraine did meddle, laughter can be heard (presumably from the MTP studio).

He did not let Todd off the hook on posing the question about Russia/Ukraine meddling in a mutually exclusive manner.

Here’s a thing Cruz said: “Of course Russia interfered in our election. Nobody looking at the evidence disputes that. Russia clearly interfered in our election.”

Another thing Cruz said: “Ukraine blatantly interfered in our election.”

?Ted Cruz nukes conspiracy theorist/DNC activist Chuck Todd ? – Chuck, Ukraine was trying to get Hillary Clinton elected, which is what the media wanted

– Ukraine meddling is inconvenient for your narrative

– Dems have no evidence of a crime- now you’re working for Adam Schiff pic.twitter.com/qcDuQwz8sJ — Benny (@bennyjohnson) December 8, 2019

Washington Post conservative blogger Jennifer Rubin wasted little time in calling Cruz a stooge for Putin.

The words of a U.S. president and a U.S. senator matter, and one of the saddest things is that both are willing to enable an enemy of the United States. In comparison to this crowd, Obama was Winston Churchill.

https://t.co/o7Exk7HRAe — Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) December 8, 2019

In a series of tweets after the interview, Cruz fired back at Axios for saying he was “repeating a conspiracy theory” and outlined the basis of his assertion about Ukraine and the 2016 election.

@axios your bias is showing. Stop behaving like Schiff’s press secretary. Stop ignoring facts to push Dem narrative. This is why nobody trusts the media. Here are several FACTS that media chooses to ignore: (1) Hunter Biden was paid $83k a month from Ukraine’s biggest gas co. 1/x https://t.co/h6vzC6Av2l — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 8, 2019

2/x FACT 2: VP Biden bragged publicly about withholding $1 billion in aid until Ukraine fired the prosecutor investigating Burisma, the company paying his son $1mm/yr. Since MSM calls this a “conspiracy theory” & ignores facts, WATCH the actual video: https://t.co/3AKurt9Kvb — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 8, 2019

3/x FACT 3: Here’s what Politico reported on 1/11/17: “Ukrainian govt officials TRIED TO HELP Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump by publicly questioning his fitness for office. They also disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption….” — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 8, 2019

4/x “…and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they HELPED Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers, a Politico investigation found.” Axios, was Politico pushing a “conspiracy theory?” — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 8, 2019

Here is the Politico article from 2017 to which Cruz refers, entitled: “Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump backfire.”

The second paragraph of the piece:

“Ukrainian government officials tried to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump by publicly questioning his fitness for office. They also disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they helped Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers, a Politico investigation found.”

Certain conspiracies aside, Ukraine *did* meddle in 2016. It was small potatoes compared to Russia’s pernicious scheme & seems to have been less centrally-directed. No equivalency. But evincing shock at its mention, as if it’s totally invented, is…odd. https://t.co/3X8kgbOopg https://t.co/ZYP4dv0Fyo — Guy Benson (@guypbenson) December 8, 2019

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Editor’s note: This post has been updated to correct a typo.