"Meet The Press" should have done better today. There simply was not enough time spent on the president's disastrous overseas trip to Osaka, Japan for the G20 Summit. All the interviews today with Senators Corey Booker (D-NJ), John Barrasso (R-WY) and former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro should have all been conducted through the lens of the President of the United States not representing American values. From this latest trip overseas one could determine the Mr. Trump doesn't even know what American values are. Another disgraceful display on the part of the president.
At the top of the program, NBC's Richard Engel reported on the president's visit with North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un for no other purpose than to say hello. The president received nothing in return for giving Kim Jung Un a huge PR boost. It's no comfort that the president is buddies with the N.K. dictator, a man who arbitrarily executes his citizenry and puts them in gulags. Mr. Engel explained that the president mislead the American public, again, that the United States was on the brink of war with North Korea before he was in office - not true - and that he alone saved us. In fact it was Mr. Trump who began with 'fire and fury' and is now 'in love' with Kim Jung Un.
Kasie Hunt once again asked the question that is on everyone's mind which is why does Mr. Trump cozy up to Vladimir Putin the way that he does? In a interview with the Financial Times, before the summit, Mr. Putin said 'the liberal idea has become obsolete.' Instead of defending liberal democracy, which is what The United States is, Mr. Trump said that journalists were a problem with their 'fake news,' a problem that Mr. Putin deals with by harassing, jailing and murdering journalists in his country. On this note, Mr. Trump told the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman that he was doing a spectacular job. That job includes the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and conducting a war in Yemen, with Mr. Trump's blessing, that has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
But here's the good news, President Trump and President Xi of China are going to resume trade talks after the Mr. Trump conceded the allowance of Huawei to operate again in the United States. No relief for American farmers at this time, but China is going to get what it wants. Senator Barrasso said that Huawei was a 'Trojan Horse' and a threat to the U.S.'s national security. Mr. Barrasso said that he is concerned about this.
That's great, but as Mr. Todd stated, all of this is 'baked in' [to what we're used to in terms of the president's behavior] and shrugged off.
Mr. Trump is an embarrassment, plain and simple. And while he cozies up to authoritarian figures abroad, he gets to stoke his authoritarian inclinations here at home with his callousness and cavalier attitude to the humanitarian crisis at our southern border, which he created.
On this issue, Mr. Barrasso offered no assurance that our leaders are doing the right thing. He said that asylum seekers should apply for asylum in their own country and then their application would be processed. This is a ludicrous idea. If a Cuban asylum seeker applied in his or her home country, do you think that the person would be alive long enough to be able to come to the United States? That person would be killed. The aid package that the Senate passed puts no strict oversight on how the money is spent, something that the House rightfully demands. And when confronted by Mr. Todd with the fact that the appropriated monies will go to a private contractor, Homestead which runs prisons, Mr. Barrasso said that companies should not be profiting off of this tragedy. Mr. Barrasso said that he was not familiar with the company, which is just another way of saying that he doesn't know where the money is going. That's inexcusable as a U.S. Senator.
Julian Castro has the right idea in that the United States should have a 21st century type Marshall Plan to help countries in the Northern Triangle and throughout Central America better there conditions. That doesn't mean just throwing money at the problem. Resources on the ground are also warranted.
So while the president's behavior is 'baked in,' Mr. Trump is saying let them eat cake.
Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Kasie Hunt, NBC; Al Cardenas, Republican strategist; Cornell Belcher, Democratic strategist
A couple more things...
For further, more informed reading, go to Max Boot's column in The Washington Post.
And how long are we going to 'shrug off' Mr. Trump's behavior as a serial sexual predator? E. Jean Carroll's account of being attacked by Donald J. Trump is chilling...
As Kasie Hunt pointed out, the women of America, thankfully, are not shrugging it off.
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