Lindsey Graham thought President Trump gave a great speech in Poland. Despite the hemming and hawing of some on the left, it was a good speech that reaffirmed the values and strengths of western civilization. It was not a wink and nod to the jokers on the alt-right no matter how much people like Peter Beinart want it to be.

But once again, when it comes to Russia, Trump wilts like a flower before the former KGB agent, Vladimir Putin. Stephen Hayes of The Weekly Standard wrote how Trump was “de-pantsed” by Putin and then Trump tweeted the following:

Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017

Senator Lindsey Graham responded to this on Meet The Press. Watch:

WATCH: Sen. @LindseyGrahamSC responds to Trump's call to work with Russia, saying it's not the dumbest idea "but it's pretty close." #MTP pic.twitter.com/8eK1y7A25a

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 9, 2017

It’s not the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard, but it’s pretty close. He gave a really good speech in Poland, President Trump did, and he had what I think is a disastrous meeting with President Putin. Two hours and fifteen minutes of meetings; Tillerson and Trump are ready to forgive and forget when it comes to cyber-attacks on the American election of 2016. Nobody’s saying, Mr. President, the Russians changed the outcome. You won fair and square. But they did try to attack our election system. They were successful in many ways and the more you do this, the more people are suspicious about you and Russia. He’s got a great national security team around him. He’s doing a good job in Afghanistan, North Korea and ISIL. But when it comes to Russia, he’s got a blind spot. And to forgive and forget when it comes to Putin regarding cyber-attacks is to empower Putin and that’s exactly what he’s doing.

In fairness, some people do believe and are saying Russia helped change the outcome. Granted, those people are mostly on the fringe, but they are making that argument.

That said, Graham is right. Trump is tougher on our allies than he is on Putin and in politics, perception matters a lot. It is something Trump still does not understand, or he does and is ignoring advice from people around him.

It’s only to his detriment that he continues to come off like somebody who’s under Putin’s spell.