Tipsheet

NBC Reporter: I Don't Know What You Mean When Obama Promised More Flexibility To Putin

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  February 21, 2017 12:35 PM

NBC reporter Katy Tur didn’t know what a Republican congressman was referring to when he said that Obama told Putin that he would have more flexibility after the conclusion of the 2012 election. Tur was asking Rep. Francis Rooney about the number of advisers within the Trump White House that she contends have a friendlier attitude towards Russia. Alex Griswold of Mediaite clipped the exchange:

Tur pressed Florida Representative Francis Rooney about the number of Donald Trump advisors with close tie to Russia. “I see a lot of folks within Donald Trump’s administration who have a friendlier view of Russia than maybe past administrations did,” she noted.

“Well, I think it was Obama that leaned over to Putin and said, ‘I’ll have a little more flexibility to give you what you want after the re-election,’” Rooney responded.

Tur paused for a moment. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re referring to, Congressman,” she said.

Granted, Rooney’s account is not accurate. As Griswold noted, Obama told then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would have more flexibility after the election concerning talks over missile defense.

Yet, Obama might as well have told Vladimir Putin, who was prime minister at the time, since it’s been alleged that he was the one pulling the strings during the Medvedev presidency. Moreover, this hot mic moment came in late March of 2012. Earlier in the month, the Russian 2012 election ended with Putin being elected president again. Putin and Medvedev have considered their respective governing roles as the “tandem,” and The Washington Post noted that Medvedev admitted to stepping aside in the 2012 election so that Putin could become president again. Regardless, even with the names mixed up, Tur should have known this.

If Tur doesn’t ring any bells, she was the reporter who was irritated that President Trump called on our own Katie Pavlich during his press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In fact, the president only called on conservative outlets during the presser, which drove the liberal media insane.