Republican leaders slam Trump for backing Putin on election meddling: Who said what

US President Donald Trump refused to believe the findings of his own intelligence agencies and sided with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin who has denied role in meddling in the 2016 election.

Trump, speaking in Helsinki after his first summit with Putin, said he saw no reason to believe his own country's intelligence agencies over the Russia leader's "strong" denial of Russian interfere in the US election.

The US President faced strong condemnation back home with lawmakers of his own Republican Party criticising him in public. 

Here is what Republican leaders said about Trump's  performance at a joint news conference with Putin in Helsinki:

Paul Ryan, House Speaker 

"There is no question that Russia interfered in our election and continues attempts to undermine democracy here and around the world. That is not just the finding of the American intelligence community but also the House Committee on Intelligence. The president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally," Ryan said.

"There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals. The United States must be focused on holding Russia accountable and putting an end to its vile attacks on democracy," the top Republican in the US House of Representatives added. 

Senator John McCain 

“The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake,” McCain said in a statement. 

“President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world,” the war hero and former Republican presidential nominee, a frequent critic of the president, said.

Senator Mitch McConnell, Majority leader, 

“The Russians are not our friends. I’ve said that repeatedly, I say it again today. And I have complete confidence in our intelligence community and the findings that they have announced,” McConnell said. 

Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence

"The role of the Intelligence Community is to provide the best information and fact-based assessments possible for the President and policymakers," Coats said in a statement.

"We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security," he top US intelligence official said. 

Mitt Romney, former US Presidential candidate

"President Trump's decision to side with Putin over American intelligence agencies is disgraceful and detrimental to our democratic principles," Romney said. 

"Russia remains our number one geopolitical adversary; claiming a moral equivalence between the United States and Russia not only defies reason and history, it undermines our national integrity and impairs our global credibility," he said. 

Senator Lindsey Graham

"Missed opportunity by President Trump to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling and deliver a strong warning regarding future elections," Graham said on Twitter. "This answer by President Trump will be seen by Russia as a sign of weakness and create far more problems than it solves."

Senator Pat Toomey

"American intelligence agencies have confirmed, unequivocally, that Russian actors, almost certainly at the direction of the Russian government and Vladimir Putin, meddled in our 2016 presidential election," Toomey said. "Whether it's protecting the hackers responsible for this crime, committing numerous human rights violations, invading Ukraine, annexing Crimea, supporting the Iranian regime, taking hostile actions in Syria, or threatening peaceful European neighbors, it’s clear that Putin is a bad actor and should be treated as an international pariah."

"Putin insists that the Russian government has nothing to do with meddling in our elections. In that case, he should not object to the hackers recently indicted being brought to justice. Absent his cooperation in achieving that justice, the United States should impose tough new sanctions on Russia," he added. 

Senator John Cornyn

“In the president’s mind, I think he’s conflating different things — the meddling and the collusion allegations for which there does not appear to be any evidence,” Mr. Cornyn said.

Senator Susan Collins

"The Russians were relentless in their efforts to meddle in the 2016 elections, and their efforts are ongoing. The President’s statements today in Helsinki demonstrate his continued refusal to accept the unanimous conclusions of U.S. intelligence leaders and the bipartisan findings of the Senate Intelligence Committee," Collins said. 

"This position is untenable and at odds with the forceful response this moment demands.  Given that we are in an election year, the need to act now to prevent malicious attempts to influence our democracy is urgent," she added.