‘He works for them’: Trump provokes disgust by defending Russia for apparently hacking US government

President Donald Trump defended Russia -- and blamed China -- in his first public statement on a massive hack of the U.S. government, and the remarks still managed to shock social media users after all these years.

The president has repeatedly defended Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, throughout his presidency and political campaigns, and his ties to the Kremlin were investigated at length by special counsel Robert Mueller -- but he even took their side after cybersecurity experts and high-ranking government officials blamed Russia for the hack of at least six government agencies.

The tweet somehow managed to provoke shock and outrage, despite all that's taken place throughout the Trump presidency involving Russia.