Sen. Murphy: Russia a Greater Threat to Election Due to Trump's Diagnosis

Sen. Chris Murphy said Russia may use President Donald Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis to its advantage.

During a Friday interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto, the Democrat lawmaker from Connecticut said Russia will become more of a threat to the upcoming presidential election while Trump is in isolation and away from the campaign trail. 

"You have to be much more serious about the Russian threat given today's news," the Senate Foreign Relations Committee member said. "If President Trump can’t be out there on the campaign trail for the next two weeks, then he is going to rely on his surrogates and, unfortunately, one of his surrogates is Vladimir Putin."

Murphy claimed that the Trump campaign will be "ramped up by Russia over the next few weeks to try to substitute for the president’s absence on the campaign trail."

He said he is worried that intelligence agencies "are not being clear with the American people about the size of the Russian operation and their clear desire to try to elect President Trump to a second term."

Concerns about election interference have been raised by several agencies. A report issued by William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, noted that Russia, China, and Iran are all involved in election interference efforts.

• Trump Derides Intelligence Statement on Russian Election Interference
• Trump's Virus Diagnosis Will Keep Him Off Campaign Trail