“A former top aide to President Trump canceled his appearance on cable news Monday night because he ‘couldn’t defend’ the president’s news conference in Helsinki,” The New York Post reports. “Ex-National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton backed out of CNN’s ‘Out Front’ with Erin Burnett after Trump’s joint news conference with Russian president Vladimir Putin.”

Burnett sent out a tweet saying: “Michael Anton, Former Trump NSC spox, cancelled his appearance on Outfront tonight because he couldn’t defend @realDonaldTrump today.”

Burnett reportedly said on the air that Anton “was scheduled to be on this show” to defend Trump’s performance, adding: “But he’s not on, because he said he can’t defend it.”

The Post report adds: “During the Helsinki appearance, Trump sided with Putin against US intelligence assessments that Russia hacked into email systems and Russian agents worked aggressively to influence the 2016 election.”