Senator John McCain
Thank you sir
I concur vehemently
“Today’s press conference in Helsinki was one of the most
disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. The damage
inflicted by President Trump’s naivete, egotism, false equivalence, and
sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the
summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake.
“President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand
up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the
president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions
of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda
and lies to the world.
“It is tempting to describe the press conference as a pathetic
rout — as an illustration of the perils of under-preparation and inexperience.
But these were not the errant tweets of a novice politician. These were
the deliberate choices of a president who seems determined to realize his
delusions of a warm relationship with Putin’s regime without any regard for the
true nature of his rule, his violent disregard for the sovereignty of his
neighbors, his complicity in the slaughter of the Syrian people, his violation
of international treaties, and his assault on democratic institutions
throughout the world.
“Coming close on the heels of President Trump’s bombastic and
erratic conduct towards our closest friends and allies in Brussels and
Britain, today’s press conference marks a recent low point in the history
of the American presidency. That the president was attended in Helsinki by
a team of competent and patriotic advisers makes his blunders and capitulations
all the more painful and inexplicable.
“No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before
a tyrant. Not only did President Trump fail to speak the truth about an
adversary; but speaking for America to the world, our president failed to
defend all that makes us who we are — a republic of free people dedicated to
the cause of liberty at home and abroad. American presidents must be the
champions of that cause if it is to succeed. Americans are waiting and
hoping for President Trump to embrace that sacred responsibility. One can only
hope they are not waiting totally in vain.”
1414, Monday, 16 7. 18
