MSM warns Americans against Russia's 'hacking attack' following Trump ‘invitation’

Beware: The Russians are coming to invade an email near you, and at the invitation of Donald Trump, no less. At least that’s how the mainstream media have interpreted the Republican Presidential candidate’s latest comments.

Headlines referring to Trump’s “call on Russia to cyber-invade the United States” have contributed to a media frenzy, with the DNC accusing Russians of hacking into its emails.

The topic can now be found at the top of news feeds across every social media platform following Trump’s press conference on Wednesday when he jokingly weighed in on the email scandal.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” said Trump, while commenting on ongoing debacle. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

The comments stem from accusations that Russia hacked into the DNC’s computer servers and leaked emails to WikiLeaks in order to help the Republican’s campaign, despite an absolute lack of any proof to substantiate those claims.

Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, which released the hacked DNC emails, criticized Clinton’s campaign for trying to pass on the blame.

“What we have right now is the Hillary Clinton campaign using a speculative allegation about hacks that have occurred in the past to try and divert attention from our emails, another separate issue that WikiLeaks has published,” said Assange.

READ MORE: Democrats trying to 'deflect horror & stupidity of WikiLeaks disaster' – Trump

Some 20,000 Democratic National Committee emails were released on Friday by Wikileaks that exposed the DNC’s bias towards Hillary Clinton and disdain for her Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders.

Trump argued that if a foreign nation was behind the hacks, it simply proves how little respect the current administration commands globally. 

“President Trump would be so much better for US-Russian relations” than a President Clinton, said Trump before adding; “I don’t think [Putin] respects Clinton."

Later in the press conference, Trump told a female reporter to “be quiet” when he was asked if he was really urging a foreign nation to hack into government emails to meddle in a US election: “That’s up to the president,” he said.

READ MORE: Clinton aide blames Russia for hacking DNC to ‘distract Americans from its use of rigged game’

The Clinton campaign immediately responded to Trump’s comments, invoking the risk to “national security” – a favorite US bogeyman – as one of the many reasons inviting a cyber-invasion would be a bad idea.

“This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent,” said Jake Sullivan, Clinton’s chief foreign policy adviser.

“This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue,” he added.

House Speaker and Republican Paul Ryan threw his two cents worth into the fray by calling on Putin to ignore Trump’s request and “stay out of this election.” 

“Russia is a global menace led by a devious thug. Putin should stay out of this election,” said Ryan through a spokesperson. 

Also on Wednesday, Trump’s vice presidential nominee Mike Pence vowed that Russia would face “serious consequences” if an investigation proves that Russian hackers were behind the leak.

READ MORE: Assange promises to leak ‘a lot more’ materials on US presidential elections

“This FBI will get to the bottom of who is behind the hacking. If it is Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences,” said Pence in a statement.