Media personalities and pundits blew up social media, as lawmakers issued statements about President Donald Trump's performance and his comments during Monday's joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their first meeting in Helsinki, Finland.

During a news conference reporters, Trump said members of his administration told him that Russia tried to interfere with the 2016 election, but he also said he had “confidence” in Putin’s denials and “did not see any reason” why Russia would have interfered.

Fox News' Neil Cavuto shared a clip of his discussion with former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Tom Dupree on Twitter and called Trump's behavior "disgusting."

Dupree said he wanted to see a "forceful condemnation of Russia's interference in 2016, " adding that he had hoped Trump would take the opportunity to "look him squarely in the eye and said you will be punished for what you did in 2016 and don't ever think about doing that again."

Cavuto said the president let "the guy [Putin] get away with this," adding that his lack of criticism of the Russian leader "sets us back a lot."

And Cavuto wasn't alone in his critique:

This position is untenable and at odds with the forceful response this moment demands. Given that we are in an election year, the need to act now to prevent malicious attempts to influence our democracy is urgent. (3/3)

— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) July 16, 2018