Never re-tweet, never surrender!
Donald Trump took to Twitter to take his critics to the woodshed for the audacity they had to criticize the congratulatory phone call he made to Vladimir Putin after Putin “won” reelection. Congratulations, by the way, that his National Security advisers strongly (in all caps, no less) urged him not to offer.
First he tweeted:
“I called President Putin of Russia to congratulate him on his election victory (in past, Obama called him also). The Fake News Media is crazed because they wanted me to excoriate him. They are wrong! Getting along with Russia (and others) is a good thing, not a bad thing…….”
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Nine minutes later, he felt compelled to add:
“…..They can help solve problems with North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, ISIS, Iran and even the coming Arms Race. Bush tried to get along, but didn’t have the “smarts.†Obama and Clinton tried, but didn’t have the energy or chemistry (remember RESET). PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!”
Amazingly, Trump’s claim that “Obama called him also” is true, but it deserves a little context. The geopolitical landscape was very different in 2012 when President Obama congratulated Prime Minister/President-elect Putin on his victory. While our relationship at the time with Russia could at best be described as “awkward,” it hadn’t deteriorated to its current level. And this was, of course, 4 years before Russia meddled in our election process, and helped elect the Crime Prince of Collusion. Meanwhile, Trump’s call came after said meddling, and mere days after Russian agents poisoned a former Russian agent and his daughter in the United Kingdom (an act those same advisers who urged him to NO CONGRATS encouraged him to condemn).
It should also be noted -with whatever sense of irony you can still muster in the Trump era- that Republicans “excoriated” (seriously, who was in the room to help Trump with that word?) Obama for that congratulatory call. As you don’t have to imagine, after Trump’s call? Crickets.
If there’s any good news to be found here, it’s that you don’t have to wonder anymore what a Presidential meltdown might look like. Of course, we’ll all be wondering what’s next….
