State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Thursday asserted that the Trump administration "has been tough on Russia, in fact tougher than the previous administration."
Nauert, acting under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, made the comment during an interview on CNN's "New Day" morning program.
"Our countries have to have areas of cooperation where we can work together. Counter-terrorism is one of them. But we are tough on Russia where it is necessary. We have consistently called out Russia," Nauert said on CNN.
"We consistently call out Russia for its destabilizing activities in Syria, in Georgia, in Ukraine, all across the world," Nauert said.
Nauert even tried to reverse the claim that President Donald Trump in some way hasn't been tough on Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.
"The president has spoken about Russian meddling in the elections. He's spoken about that consistently, including with Vladimir Putin," Nauert said. "I know a lot of media organizations like to keep going back on this — this administration has been tough on Russia, in fact tougher than the previous administration.
"We are keeping a close eye out on Russian attempts to meddle in our midterm elections and we also see what Russia is doing in other countries' elections right now. We see the fingerprints," Nauert said.
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