Image by Getty Images

By Dave Goldiner March 10, 2018

Vladimir Putin reportedly has suggested that Jews could have been responsible for meddling in the American presidential election.

In a combative new interview with NBC News, the Russian strongman went off script to name possible scapegoats for the campaign to boost then-candidate Donald Trump.

“Maybe they’re Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, just with Russian citizenship. Even that needs to be checked,” Putin told Megyn Kelly.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

He said the interference might have been carried out by immigrants from the former Soviet Union to the U.S. or even part of some American counterintelligence operation.

“Maybe they have dual citizenship. Or maybe a green card. Maybe it was the Americans who paid them for this work. How do you know? I don’t know,” he said.

In the interview, the Russian president was asked if he condoned the interference by 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies detailed in an indictment obtained by special counsel Robert Mueller.

He countered that none of the evidence points directly to his government.

“I do not care at all, because they do not represent the government,” he said.

Trump has called Putin “a strong leader” and said he believes his claim that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 vote.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount