Biden blasts Trump’s ‘dumb’, ‘dangerous’ comments on Nato
For God’s sake, it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American. JOE BIDEN ,
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned “dumb” and “shameful” comments by Donald Trump on Nato, in one of the incumbent’s most blistering attacks yet on his likely Republican rival in November’s election.
The 81-year-old Democrat accused his predecessor of bowing to Russian President Vladimir Putin, after Trump said he would encourage Moscow to attack Nato members who failed to meet financial commitments.
“For God’s sake, it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American,” Biden said in a televised address from the White House to urge the House of Representatives to pass vital war aid for Ukraine.
“Can you imagine a former president of the United States saying that? The whole world heard it. And the worst thing is he means it,” he added.
“No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Well, let me say this as clearly as I can: I never will.”
Washington’s allies reacted with alarm after Trump made his most extreme broadside yet against the US-led military alliance — even by his standards of long-term —bashing.
Biden used Trump’s comments to fuel his election attack line against Trump — who was impeached twice as president and now faces a series of criminal trials — as a threat to democracy.
In his remarks from the state dining room at the White House, he accused the real
US President
estate tycoon of acting like an organised crime boss when it came to the alliance.
“When he looks at Nato, he doesn’t see the alliance that protects America and the world. He sees a protection racket,” Biden said.
Biden added that if Trump’s allies in the House fail to follow the lead of the Senate and pass a bill with billions of dollars in military assistance for Ukraine, then they will be playing into Putin’s hands.
Trump made the comments at a campaign rally in South Carolina on Saturday, describing what he said was a conversation with a fellow head of state at an unspecified Nato meeting.
“One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’ I said, ‘You didn’t pay, you’re delinquent? No, I would not protect you,’” Trump told his supporters.
“In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.”
A defiant Trump later defended his comments, saying he had made Nato “strong” by making allies meet defence spending targets when he was in office from 2017-2021.
Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto had a strong lead in early, unofficial tallies of Indonesia’s presidential race on Wednesday, suggesting the former general may be able to avoid a run-off.
The 72-year-old candidate has presented himself as an heir to immensely popular sitting President Joko Widodo, whose son he chose as running mate.
He’s also a link to the brutal period of dictatorship that ended just over 25 years ago, when he served as a special forces commander in a unit linked to torture and disappearances, allegations Subianto denies.
Widodo’s successor will inherit an economy with impressive growth and ambitious infrastructure projects, including the ongoing transfer of the nation’s capital from congested Jakarta to the frontier island of Borneo at a staggering cost exceeding $30 billion.
The election also has high stakes for the United States and China, since Indonesia has a huge domestic market, natural resources like nickel and palm oil, and diplomatic influence with its Southeast Asian neighbours.
According to early, unofficial tallies conducted by Indonesian polling agencies, Subianto had close to 60% of votes, with 80% of the vote counted in polling places sampled. The official count may not be finished up to a month, but quick counts have provided an accurate picture of the results of all four presidential elections held in Indonesia since it began direct voting in 2004.
To avoid a runoff against his rivals — two former provincial governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo — Subianto will need more than 50% of all votes cast and at least 20% in each of the country’s provinces.
Indonesians voted on Wednesday in an election that took just six hours. The logistics of the vote across the tropical nation’s 17,000 islands inhabited by 270 million people were daunting: Ballot boxes and ballots were transported by boats, motorcycles, horses and on foot in some of the more far-flung locations.
Aside from the presidency, some 20,000 national, provincial and district parliamentary posts were contested by tens of thousands of candidates in one of the world’s largest elections, which authorities said concluded with no major problems. About 10,000 aspirants from 18 political parties eyed the national parliament’s 580 seats alone.