Washington, Feb 6 (IANS): US lawmakers have rejected President Donald Trump's most recent notion that the American government was morally equivalent to Russia, media reports said.

Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse said: "There is no moral equivalency between the US -- the greatest freedom loving nation in the history of the world -- and the murderous thugs that are in (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's defense of his cronyism," NBC News reported

Meanwhile defending Trump, US Vice President Mike Pence said, "American ideals are superior to countries all across the world. But, again, what the president is determined to do, as someone who has spent a lifetime looking for deals, is to see if we can have a new relationship with Russia and other countries that advances the interests of America first and the peace and security of the world."

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders continued to call for an investigation on Russia's involvement in the hacks of the Democratic Party during the presidential election.

On Sunday, in a Fox News, Trump defended his decision to criticise longtime allies instead of the Russian authoritarian regime.

"I say it's better to get along with Russia than not," the President said.

The interviewer pushed back saying that Putin is a killer, to which Trump said: "There are a lot of killers. We got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country's so innocent?"