The world’s most dangerous tweeter got back from his Asia trip and fell right back into one of his worst habits.
Trump hopped on his favorite social media this morning to attack CNN, seemingly prompted by the fact that he didn’t have access to his favorite right-wing propaganda from Fox News during his trip overseas. While the president often claims that he doesn’t watch television, it seems to be the only thing he ever thinks about.
The president lamented the fact that he had been “forced” to watch CNN while in the Philippines. Of course, nobody can force the President of the United States to watch anything on television, but that fact doesn’t fit into his constant self-victimization narrative. He tweeted:
While in the Philippines I was forced to watch @CNN, which I have not done in months, and again realized how bad, and FAKE, it is. Loser!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2017
Now, CNN’s Jim Acosta has fired back at Donald. Acosta has been critical of Trump’s un-American and frankly unconstitutional attacks on the free press in the past. This time, he criticized Trump by comparing his combative tweet about CNN to the coziness Trump showed towards the Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte is a flagrant civil rights abuser and has sanctioned widespread, extrajudicial executions of his own citizens for drug use and crime. He’s also joked about raping women and claims to have personally murdered someone when he was younger.
Duterte is the worst kind of leader, a violent, ignorant man who called President Obama a “son of a b*tch.” Obama, not surprisingly, wasn’t overly fond of the murderous Duterte, and canceled a planned meeting between the two heads of state after his insults.
But Trump is not even half the man Obama is, and his fetishization of strongman personas and authoritarian impulses make him a natural friend of Duterte. Obama knew how to deal with men like the Filipino President, Trump is desperate to make them like him.
On the opposite end of the leader spectrum from the cowardly Trump is Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a man who isn’t afraid to take Duterte to task for his violent policies:
Trudeau raises human rights issues with Duterte pic.twitter.com/8xV4WNQBIl
— TIME (@TIME) November 14, 2017
With all this is in mind, Jim Acosta was able to compose a succinct, cutting Tweet that perfectly laid bare the president’s horribly lopsided priorities:
If only he were this tough on Duterte https://t.co/la3Dieus7s
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 15, 2017
Trump should be ashamed for treating Duterte so warmly. He disgraces American democracy and the rule of law by embracing a man who has no place leading a country. That too is something the men share.
