Editorial: Trump 'clarification' fails to repair damage from Helsinki

We have to say, President Donald Trump addressed Tuesday the one sentence that was most confounding in his seven-sentence dismissal of the Russia investigation. It turns out, he claims, that he just misspoke. He now says he meant to say that he didn't see any reason Russia "wouldn't" be meddling in U.S. elections, not that he didn't see any reason Russia "would" be meddling.

In other words, some 27 hours, a firestorm of criticism and an embarrassing 20-minute Sean Hannity bear hug after his stunning performance alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump got around to pointing out that he had reviewed video of his remarks and realized he misspoke. He had in fact meant to be critical of Russia all along.

"You could put that in and I think that probably clarifies things by itself," he stated.

Move along, folks. Nothing to see here. Never mind that man behind the curtain.

Well, not quite.

The president did emphasize during his statement Tuesday that, "I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place."

But that is not far different from what he said Monday, when he declared, "I have great confidence in my intelligence people," just before adding, "but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."

Don't forget that he also said on Monday that, mystifying though it may be as to how it is possible, "I have confidence in both parties."

In short, President Trump's sheepish clarification did nothing to repair the damage he caused in Helsinki, and ought not diminish the gratifying unanimity among Democrats and Republicans in the suburban congressional delegation who were quick to condemn his obsequious equivocation in the presence of a brutal tyrant. Among them, Wheaton Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam called Trump's appearance "an affront to American democracy." Hoffman Estates Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said it was a "shocking and disgraceful show of weakness." Plano Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren urged the president "to stand up to the Russians and take a hard line stance against those who only seek to harm the United States and our democracy."

He did not, of course. In a moment that called for the stern negotiation skills of which Trump is so boastful, the American president not only gave Putin a pass on election meddling, but also seems hardly to have broached - let alone condemned Russian behavior on - such important topics as Crimea, Ukraine, Syria, the attempted murders of civilians in Britain and more.

Such obvious omissions cannot help but stir questions about why the leader of the free world seems to feel so intimidated by the Russian president. Even as he walked back his "would/wouldn't" confusion on Tuesday, President Trump for some reason felt compelled to add, "It could be other people also - a lot of people out there." What other people, we apparently must leave for investigators to tell us at some other time since so far, no people or nations other than Russians have been identified or hinted at as suspects. But the clear impression Trump seems to want to leave for Putin is that we're not blaming only him and maybe it's not leaders but just "people" who are trying to disrupt our democracy.

In an eloquent prepared statement published in full elsewhere on this page, Republican Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain said that "speaking for America to the world, our president failed to defend all that makes us who we are - a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad."

That is a blistering commentary on a sitting president from one's own party. Unfortunately, it also is true. It will take more than the mincing of a couple of words for President Trump to show that he understands the "sacred responsibility," as McCain describes it, of an American president to be a champion of freedom to the world.