With half of Congress demanding an impartial investigation into President Donald Trump, his associates and Russia for colluding in all the hacking that occurred in the election, the commander-in-chief is pointing his finger at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In a Friday tweet, Trump wrote that there should be an "immediate investigation" into the New York senator because he once appeared in a photo with Russian President Vladimir Putin more than a decade ago.
The photo has been circulating the internet for the better of 20 hours after first appearing on Reddit, according to an investigation by BuzzFeed News. The Associated Press photograph was taken in September 2003, which appeared in newspapers when Putin visited the first New York gas station of Lukoil, a Russian company.
The image was apparently posted on the subreddit channel, r/The_Donald, a popular home for Trump's most ardent supporters. It then skipped across right-wing blogs and websites, ultimately getting prominent coverage on Drudge and The Gateway Pundit. Infowars editor Paul Joseph Watson shared the photo with his followers in a tweet, sarcastically writing "Chuck Schumer must resign immediately! The horror!"
The President of the United States either cribbed the joke from Watson or independently thought of the same caption upon seeing the photo. Watson, however, did not call Schumer "a total hypocrite" like Trump did.
Schumer responded by saying he is willing to discuss his contacts with the Russian president.
On Thursday, Schumer called on Trump's attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to resign.
"There cannot be even the scintilla of doubt about the impartiality and fairness of the attorney general, the top law enforcement official of the land," Schumer said. "Because the Department of Justice should be above reproach, for the good of the country Attorney General Sessions should resign."
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