End the bromance
Once again President Trump’s shoot-from-the-lip style has touched off a political fire storm. But this time it’s his fellow Republicans who are shooting back.
In an interview that aired on Fox News on Super Bowl Sunday Trump once again not only came to the defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but appeared to draw a moral equivalency between Putin’s behavior and that of U.S. officials.
“I do respect him,” he told host Bill O’Reilly. “... I say it’s better to get along with Russia than not.”
When O’Reilly countered, “But he’s a killer, though. Putin’s a killer,” Trump responded, “What do you think? Our country’s so innocent?”
Well, last time we looked opposition politicians and journalists weren’t being poisoned or gunned down or beaten in the streets — although in the case of journalists, perhaps that actually holds some appeal for our new president.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was among the first GOP figures to respond saying, “Putin is a former KGB agent; he’s a thug.” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) tweeted, “When has a Democratic political activist been poisoned by the GOP or vice versa?”
And while Trump’s rhetorical flights of fancy betray either a dangerous naïvety or perhaps envy of an imperial presidency unhampered by pesky courts or lawmakers, it’s the policy that flows from that which is increasingly worrisome.
“And if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS ... that’s a good thing,” Trump said in the same interview.
Never mind that Russian bombers were hardly scrupulous in avoiding civilian populations in Syria and often targeted the rebel groups that were getting U.S. support.
And then there’s Ukraine, where despite a weekend call with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Trump said he wants to work with Ukraine and Russia “and all other parties involved to help them restore peace along the border.”
The conflict, which appears to be heating up again, involves a 250-mile front inside eastern Ukraine.
Words do matter in foreign affairs — but policy matters more. If Trump gets both wrong this nation — and others — are in trouble.