Last week, Ivanka Trump set out on a tour in Africa to (in her own “special” way) promote Women’s Empowerment. Trump, along with a delegation of American Senators which included Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), were touring the Ivory Coast to participate in the Women Entrepreneurship Finance Initiative (We-Fi). The initiative, which was an idea that Ivanka Trump proposed in 2017, was put together along with international governments and banks, as well as other stakeholders., in order to raise money to help promote and support women-owned businesses.
While we understand why Ivanka went on the tour — after all, she is the daughter of our so-called “president” and also a woman — we’re not exactly sure why Sen. Lindsey Graham tagged along. Evidently, neither was he.
According to The Daily Beast:
‘While on a trip to Côte d’Ivoire last week to help Ivanka Trump promote women’s access to capital in Africa, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) warned of religious warswith “radical ideology” that would be “hell on earth for women” if they are not “destroyed.”
‘“It’s the enemy of mankind, not just the United States,” Graham said, of the theoretical invaders, according to a recording provided to The Daily Beast. “Some of our soldiers will be needed, but not a lot. Most of the fighting will be done by people in the region. I promise you the enemy will lose because very few mothers or fathers want to turn their daughters over to ISIS, al Qaeda, or any other group.”’
Attendees of Graham’s rambling, nonsensical speech were reportedly extremely confused and could be heard whispering to each other, wondering what the hell the Senator was talking about. Perhaps sensing the crowd’s confusion, Graham then tried to refocus his speech away from terrorism to that of women’s empowerment, but it still remained very strange. Adding that it was critical to the U.S. to empower women in Africa because it “makes America safer,” Graham said:
‘We’re going to win this struggle. The only question is how long does it take and how many must die.
‘Giving a young woman in a remote, poor region an education and a voice for herself and her children is the terrorists’ worst nightmare
‘So if you really want to deal a blow to these evil people, build schools, create economic opportunity, allow a mother to have a say about the future of her children because she will inevitably say no to the terrorist.’
Donald Trump has referred to Africa as one of those “shithole” countries in the past, so it’s really no surprise that Graham emulated his boss and behaved this way.
Reportedly, after he was finished speaking, the audience gave Graham what could be equated to a “polite” response. They clapped quietly but were obviously still confused. Aren’t we all?
Featured image via Flickr
