Trump gives North Korea a pass: Others have done 'really bad things'
Trump is apparently so desperate for a political victory that he’s willing to dismiss the suffering of millions just to please a dictator.
After completely ignoring the issue of human rights during Monday’s summit with Kim Jong Un, Trump took things even further on Wednesday when he dismissed the atrocities committed by the North Korean dictator and said “other people have done some really bad things,” too.
The remarks came during an interview with Fox News’ Brett Baier, who pressed Trump about North Korea’s heinous record of human rights abuses.
“You call people sometimes killers. You know, he is a killer. I mean, he’s clearly executing people,” Baier said, referring to Kim Jong Un.
Trump responded by praising the dictator for being a “tough guy” who took control of the country when he was just a young man.
“[H]e’s a very smart guy,” Trump said. “He’s a great negotiator. I think we understand each other.”
Seemingly taken aback by Trump’s callous remarks, Baier replied, “But he’s still done some really bad things.”
“Yea, but so have other people done some really bad things,” Trump shot back. “I could go through a lot of nations where a lot of bad things were done.”
Trump did not name the countries that he thinks are just as bad as North Korea — probably because they don’t exist.
According to the United Nations, the North Korean regime has committed and is committing ongoing and systematic human rights violations against its own citizens on a scale that is unparalleled in the modern world.
In a nearly 400-page report on North Korea’s human rights abuses, the U.N. declared that the atrocities carried out under the direction of Kim Jong Un — including torture, starvation, murder, enslavement, and rape — resemble those committed in Nazi Germany.
“These are not mere excesses of the state: they are essential components of a political system that has moved far from the ideals on which it claims to be founded,” the report says. “The gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.”
Trump’s desperate attempt to achieve something in his talks with North Korea has already driven him to debase American values and lower our standing on the global stage.
Now, he has also shown that he’s willing to dismiss the suffering of millions of people just to score a political victory.
Even with Trump’s record of callous disregard for human rights, this might be a new low.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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