Former RNC Chairman Slams Trump as “Not Fit to Lead This Nation”

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:49 pm

Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Marc Racicot criticized former President Donald Trump’s commentary on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its third week, saying he is “not fit to lead this nation.”

“Donald Trump does not possess those essential qualities of character that leave him fit to lead this nation, most especially in a time of crisis,” Racicot wrote in an op-ed for the Independent Record, saying that Trump’s claims “were laced with reckless propositions, cruelty and improprieties which continue to poison and fray the political life and social fabric of the nation.”

Racicot said Trump’s remarks, which included a suggestion that the United States should “bomb the shit” out of Russia, blame Beijing and “sit back and watch” when the two countries “start fighting with each other,” show he has “an appalling lack of compassion for the death and destruction of the lives, culture and country of the people of Ukraine.”

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Of course, this only scratches the surface of Trump’s recent commentary.

Earlier this month, Trump suggested that China will invade Taiwan, an event that policymakers have worried could happen should China, a key Russian ally, feel emboldened by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move to invade Ukraine.

In an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, Trump said China will invade Taiwan because of “how stupid the United States is run,” in a direct dig at President Joe Biden.

“They’re seeing that our leaders are incompetent, and of course they’re going to do – this is their time.” he said, suggesting that Chinese President Xi Jinping is taking cues from the way the United States handled the evacuation of Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power last summer.

“He [Biden] saw the way that we left Afghanistan like a surrender and left $85 billion and death behind and left American citizens there that are still trying to get out. And he sees that, and this is his opportunity to do what he wants to do, which is … he’s wanted to do that, and China’s wanted to do that for decades,” he later added.

Trump’s administration had proposed leaving Afghanistan by January 15, 2021 and Trump was largely supportive of an Afghanistan withdrawal. In April 2020, he put himself at odds with other Republicans when he suggested that American troops should leave Afghanistan ahead of President Joe Biden’s proposed deadline of September 11. The evacuation was completed ahead of an August 31 deadline.

Trump had earlier praised Putin as a “genius” for moving troops to Ukraine’s eastern border in the days before the invasion, which Putin officially ordered on February 24.

Trump had said that Putin is “very savvy” and made a “genius” move when he signed a decree recognizing Luhansk and Donetsk, parts of Eastern Ukraine, as independent entities and claimed that he was moving troops to regions held by Russian separatists in a bid to ensure “peace.”

“I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of Ukraine, Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” said Trump during an appearance on on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.

Trump added: So Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’ a large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force. We could use that on our southern border.”

Alan Herrera

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.