Here we go again. Donald Trump spoke to the leader of a foreign country accused of committing heinous human rights abuses and, lo and behold, he denied committing those crimes. Trump, whose businesses have made millions from sales to Saudi Arabian government officials, asked King Salman whether or not his government murdered a Washington Post journalist. He denied it, and Trump wants his rabid fanbase to believe that means something.
Seriously, we could clear out the prisons using this standard.
Just as he once did with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump discussed the denial of any wrongdoing as if he were making some kind of valid point. Speaking to reporters before heading to Georgia and Florida to survey the hurricane damage, Trump said:
‘His denial to me could not have been stronger. The denial was not only a denial, it was a very firm denial.’
Of course, he also mentioned once again that the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, is not an American citizen, just a permanent resident. That’s supposed to mean something, too.
.@POTUS: “I just spoke with the king of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of what took place with regard to, as he said, his Saudi Arabian citizen.” pic.twitter.com/yxe6BWIKQ5
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 15, 2018
The truth, however, has come out during Trump rallies and 60 Minutes interviews. Trump doesn’t want to dig too deep and won’t impose sanctions because the Saudis spend a lot of money on Trump’s businesses and they’ve ordered billions of dollars worth of military equipment from America.
For every foreign dictator, such as Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, Trump has spelled out how to get away with the worst human rights abuses. Money. Buy from Trump, get away with murder.
Welcome to Trump’s America.
Twitter was furious over Trump’s tweet. Read some of their responses below:
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
