ROOTING FOR THE TORTURERS Trump has made the world a darker place by siding against democracy and human rights
In studying authoritarianism, I’ve grown used to a now familiar pause in conversation — the sound of a torture victim’s voice breaking as he struggles to recount the horrors he endured at the hand of a despot. Some were hung naked from a metal rod for days, others beaten until they entered a coma.
I’ve interviewed hundreds of pro-democracy reformers from Belarus to Thailand. Most plead with me to persuade my government — the government of the United States — to provide them with just a bit more support, a bit of hope against a tyrant.
They want freedom. They want basic human rights. They want democracy.
The president of the United States is not on their side.
Instead, he consistently sides with the torturers and the oppressors over the tortured and the oppressed. That appalling decision will not only make the world a darker place, it will also damage U.S. strategic interests.
President Trump has repeatedly said that “torture works.” He has praised Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who murders journalists and dissidents; congratulated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for rigging a referendum that effectively dismantled democracy in Turkey; invited Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to visit, even though he has boasted about murdering people and is using death squads to kill thousands; and embraced Egypt’s military dictator, President Abdel Fattah al- Sisi, at the White House, though Sisi killed at least 900 people in a day and routinely tortures his opponents.
This week, he called North Korea’s Kim Jong Un a “smart cookie” whom he would “be honored” to meet. He rated Kim’s consolidation of power “incredible,” even though Kim did it by assassinating relatives and murdering opponents with flamethrowers and anti-aircraft guns. NO MORAL COMPASS This leaves us with uncomfortable truths about the lack of moral values in the White House:
The president has had harsher words for Meryl Streep and Nordstrom than for Putin, Erdogan, Duterte, Sisi and Kim.
Trump attacks our free press as “the enemy of the people” but defends dictators who kill, jail or torture journalists.
He has tweeted about “human rights” once — to mock them. He has tweeted about crowds 248 times and called someone a “dummy” on Twitter 77 times.
And in fabricating his bogus claim that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower (he didn’t), Trump claimed his predecessor was a “bad (or sick) guy!” Mr. President, have you considered that such language would be better suited for someone who literally burns political opponents to death with a flamethrower?
We certainly should be outraged that our president lacks a moral compass. But we should also be worried. Trump’s unabashed adoration for dictators and strongmen will accelerate the global decline of democracy and undercut U.S. interests .
The U.S. has often had a twofaced approach to unsavory regimes. From Nixon to Reagan to Obama, American presidents have promoted the lofty ideals of freedom and democracy while getting into bed with a few ruthless regimes, such as Saudi Arabia. That’s a shameful approach. Despite that occasional hypocrisy, however, the U.S. government has been a beacon to oppressed people for decades.
Trump is something new and much more sinister. He’s disturbingly consistent. Gone is the lofty rhetoric about freedom or democracy. Instead, he repeatedly sides with despots and dictators over democrats. He doesn’t hold his nose and try to work with disgusting regimes for strategic reasons; he simply admires their “strength” or their “incredible” ability to crush dissent from the ranks of societies they terrorize. CELEBRATING TYRANNY That signal matters. American soft power is crucial to achieving diplomatic goals without war. Trump’s public adoration for the worst of the worst is taking a buzz saw to our soft power.
It gets worse. Brutal regimes look to Washington to figure out what they can get away with. Tough talk and condemnation deter the most egregious abuses; praise ensures them. Unfortunately, Trump has shown he isn’t interested in defending democracy — he’s cheerleading from the sidelines on behalf of the despots.
Unless he begins to condemn rather than celebrate tyranny, democracy will decline even faster worldwide, authoritarianism will continue to surge, and America will have sacrificed its soft power and moral leadership for nothing.
Brian Klaas is a fellow in comparative politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of The Despot’s Accomplice: How the West is Aiding and Abetting the Decline of Democracy.