Senator John McCain, the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, slammed President Trump for calling Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his re-election victory.

Republican Senator John McCain on Tuesday slammed President Trump for calling Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his recent re-election victory. "An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections," McCain said in a statement. "And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election to determine their country's future, including the countless Russian patriots who have risked so much to protest and resist Putin's regime."  According to a release from the White House, the leaders discussed the importance of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and other shared interests. 
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at a briefing that neither Russia's alleged election meddling in the U.S. nor the nerve agent attack in the U.K. came up during the phone exchange.
The call in question occurred on Tuesday, two days after Putin won the race by an overwhelming margin, garnering 76% of the vote.