John McCain Says Trump’s Praise of Kim Jong Un and Rodrigo Duterte ‘Very Disturbing’

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to take issue with Donald Trump’s remarks about North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte “very disturbing.”

Trump said Sunday that Kim Jong Un is “a pretty smart cookie” and has said he would be “honored” to meet him. And he and praised Duterte, who is responsible for the extra-judicial murders of over 7,000 of his own people, inviting him to the White House.

“I don’t understand it, I don’t think that the president appreciates the fact that when he says things like that it helps the credibility and the prestige of this really outrageous strongman.”

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McCain went on to add that, “You can’t praise that kind of behavior and not raise concerns around the world.”

“This is a dramatic departure,” McCain told Joe Scarborough, from the days of Ronald Reagan and he said that Republicans are very disturbed by Trump’s behavior “because we stand for human rights.”

“It’s disturbing because we are proud Republicans and we stand for human rights. The statements, and the comments, obviously fly in the face of everything that I’ve stood for and believed in all my life.”

It can be debated whether or not the Republican Party actually stands for human rights. It certainly does not appear to be a great concern, whatever McCain says, and if it is a concern at all it is one that is submerged under Republican enthusiasm for their so-called “conservative agenda” for which Trump has become the last, best hope.

Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.