John McCain Says Putin a Bigger Threat Than Islamic State, Admits ‘No Evidence’ Russia Changed Election Outcome

Long time Trump opponent Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said in an interview aired Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin represents more of a threat to the world than Islamic State — although he conceded that he has seen ‘no evidence’ Russia changed the outcome of the 2016 election.

McCain made the remarks during an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “7:30” program, where he was asked how much of a threat he believed Vladimir Putin to be to global security.

.@PutinRF_Eng a bigger threat than ISIS @SenJohnMcCain tells #abc730 @abbydphillip @peterbakernyt @abwrig @jaketapper @jonathanvswan pic.twitter.com/RWB4moEkyV

— abc730 (@abc730) May 29, 2017

“I think he is the premier and most important threat, more so than ISIS,” he said. “I think ISIS can do terrible things and I worry a lot what is happening with the Muslim faith and I worry about a whole lot of things about it.”

“But it’s the Russians who tried to destroy the very fundamental of democracy, and that is to change the outcome of an American election,” he said.

McCain, an outspoken opponent of President Trump, has frequently dipped his toe in Democrat-pushed theories about alleged Russian influence in the 2016 election. In the interview, he called the controversy surrounding Russia and the firing of FBI Director James Comey a “scandal of significant proportions.” However, he conceded that there is “no evidence” the Russians affected the outcome of the election.

“I’ve seen seen no evidence they succeeded, but they tried, and they are still trying to change elections, they just tried to affect the outcome of the French elections,” he said. “I view the Russians as the far greatest challenge we have.”

In the interview, McCain also said Trump makes him “nervous from time to time” but that he knows that the president frequently takes the advice of his national security team.

“Can I tell you that he does all the time? No. Does it bother me? Yes, it bothers me.”

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY