Imagine the mainstream US media reaction if this had been Trump.
It depends entirely on context.
Given that was at an official meeting, I'm guessing what he was saying was nothing too surprising.
Pretty much any politician in their last term in office will try and do things they might not have done before because it affects their chances of re-election even if it's in the countries best interest (they tend to do things like issue more pardons, be more outspoken about controversial topics and generally aim to do more without having to worry about re-election).
Trump's people on the other hand were having meetings with Russian government agents in secret and denying it all, then changing their stories repeatedly when they were found out to be lying.
It's almost as bad as some of the Trump supporters saying "well Hillary met the Russians" referring to meetings with full staffs and press present, compared to some of Trump's team meeting with Russians in hotel rooms where their own communications showed the meetings were expected to be in breach of US laws.
or is that Trump and his supporters just want an easy scapegoat for the joke of the Presidency at the moment.
