The world is watching, and it is appalled by what it sees. Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung summed it up: “Trump declares war on America.” Our allies are mortified; our enemies are gleeful, because Trump has handed them a priceless gift. Every tinpot dictator can now savor a moment of unearned moral superiority over a country that has spent decades lecturing them on human rights. Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov: “I am horrified by watching the situation in the United States, where members of the authorities brutally violate the rights of regular citizens.” The Iranian press quotes Ayatollah Khomeini: “America has begun the process of its own destruction.” A North Korean newspaper decries “a white policeman’s brutality.”
It was only last week that Trump rightly condemned Beijing’s move to take away Hong Kong’s freedom. Now China has an unanswerable riposte. After State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus tweeted that “freedom loving people around the world must stand with the rule of law and hold to account the Chinese Communist Party,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman replied: “I can’t breathe.” Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif took to Twitter to rewrite one of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s condemnations of Iranian abuses into a condemnation of U.S. abuses — including the mistreatment of protesters.
Trump has turned America into a pitiful pariah (via wilwheaton)
