President Donald Trump’s Ambassador to Germany got torched on Tuesday by New York Times conservative columnist Bret Stephens for absurdly agreeing with Trump that’s he’s been “tougher on Russia” than past presidents.
Last week, Trump lost his sh*t on Twitter after reports surfaced that the FBI opened an investigation into him for possibly being a Russian agent. At the end of his meltdown, Trump laughably claimed to be “tougher on Russia” than past presidents.
I have been FAR tougher on Russia than Obama, Bush or Clinton. Maybe tougher than any other President. At the same time, & as I have often said, getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. I fully expect that someday we will have good relations with Russia again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2019
Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, whom Trump appointed, agreed. Because, of course he did.
President @realDonaldTrump is right. No Administration has been tougher on Russia than his Administration. https://t.co/mULWwRzm3m
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) January 14, 2019
The idea that Trump has been tough on Russia since taking office is totally ridiculous given Trump’s refusal to criticize Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and the many other examples of Trump’s subservience to the Russians, which have been pointed out again and again.
New York Times conservative columnist Bret Stephens responded to Grenell by smacking him with reality.
Let me get this straight, @RichardGrennell: Not Harry Truman, who created NATO and ordered the Berlin airlift? Not JFK, who stared down the Russians over Cuba? Not Nixon, who ordered the nuclear alert in 1973? Not Reagan, who named it “the evil empire”? (cont’d) https://t.co/bmqUTTCeaA
— Bret Stephens (@BretStephensNYT) January 15, 2019
When you, @RichardGrenell, make statements like this, you are either betraying mind-numbing historical ignorance or laughing in our faces. A bad look for a U.S. ambassador. (cont’d) https://t.co/rVEDO8aW03
— Bret Stephens (@BretStephensNYT) January 15, 2019
And let’s play no word games about the difference between USSR and “Russia.” Putin’s Russia is the USSR reborn under the exact same management. https://t.co/SyHRwJQCll
— Bret Stephens (@BretStephensNYT) January 15, 2019
In short, Trump has not been tough on Russia, and he certainly has not been “tougher” than past presidents. Every single one of the presidents Stephens mentioned is probably spinning in their graves in disgust of Trump’s handling of Russia, which has been so weak that he is thought of as a Russian asset and Putin’s puppet.
And now that Trump is doubling down on his plan to withdraw the United States from NATO, it’s clearer than ever that Trump has a sick and dangerous fealty to Putin, something that would have been unthinkable in the past. If other presidents had kowtowed to Russian leaders the way Trump does, our country would not be the superpower it is today and the Russians would have succeeded in killing democracy. It looks like Trump is going to destroy everything our past presidents worked so hard to build. And the only one who benefits is Putin.
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