President Trump took a victory lap on Twitter on Tuesday after news emerged that the Senate Intelligence committee had found no evidence of collusion between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign.
When the news was reported on MSNBC, the billionaire publicly thanked the network.
“Thank you to MSNBC,” Trump said. The network has long been hostile territory for the president, with their primetime hosts regularly lacing into him and his administration policies. Trump’s praise stands in stark contrast to the usual criticism he levies at MSNBC — much of which is reserved for their a.m. show, “Morning Joe.”
The news was first reported on the channel by correspondent Ken Dilanian. A representative for MSNBC declined TheWrap’s request for comment.
“After two years and interviewing more than 200 witnesses, the Senate Intelligence committee has not uncovered any direct evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia,” Dilanian said. “That’s according to sources on both the Republican and Democratic side of the aisle.”
“This is a bipartisan investigation and what I found is that the Democrats don’t dispute that characterization,” Dilanian added, citing Democratic “sources” in Congress.
There remains debate about whether the news constitutes the committee “clearing” Trump, with MSNBC also reporting on air Tuesday that different senators (depending on their party) took different interpretations away from the results.
Both the Senate and House investigations into collusion have been broadly overshadowed by the Special Counsel investigation led by former FBI director Robert Mueller. The probe, now nearly two years old, has already resulted in several indictments of high profile Trump officials including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and longtime Trump’s adviser Roger Stone.