Trump’s Response to London Attack Is Nothing But a Distraction
Donald Trump has been in the White House long enough for all of us to know that the depths of his malice are boundless.
While it may seem that his Twitter response to Friday’s London subway attack had reached a new low, that’s the thing about this administration: Success is measured by how much lower Trump can drop the bar, and by how much we are distracted from his own failures, albeit for a few days or a couple of news cycles.
With members of his dwindling base posting videos on social media ceremoniously burning their red MAGA hats, Trump is back in his Twitter default mode, trying to distract everyone while his administration literally goes down in flames.
As the special counsel probe into Trump’s administration continues to broaden by first examining allegations of collusion with Russian intelligence, then obstruction of justice, and now possibly money laundering and tax evasion, and as his White House staff becomes a ghost crew of what it once was, Trump has found a new dog to kick, and it just happens to be one of our closest historical allies.
When it comes to terrorist attacks in the U.K., it’s easy for Trump, thousands of miles away and flanked by two oceans, to claim he could do better. But we all know he couldn’t. In fact, when the latest terrorist attack happened on U.S. soil, in Charlottesville, he defended the attackers.
For the most part, Trump’s been lucky so far, and any modicum of safety from terrorist attacks on U.S. soil isn’t the result of anything he’s done. If anything, his bellicose rhetoric and public attacks on allies just make the situation worse—dividing people exactly like the terrorists want.
On Friday, Trump unloaded a barrage of insults on Twitter against political leadership in the U.K. that prompted an embarrassing and unusually angry response from Prime Minister Theresa May, who said, with British subtlety, “I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation.”
May has every right to be furious, just as London Mayor Sadiq Khan was (and still is) the last time this happened. Trump even appears to have revealed information that likely was given to him in confidence, the result of our intelligence cooperation with allies. Again.
One of his disgraceful Friday tweets stated: “Another attack in London by a loser terrorist. These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!”
Is Trump obstructing yet another investigation with this tweet?
There is a discussion to be had about the U.K.’s response to continued terrorist attacks. Friday’s attack was the country’s fifth this year. But Trump lacks the moral authority, the intellect, and the experience to lead that discussion. His opinions on the matter are meaningless—a pretty shocking comment about a sitting U.S. president.
Despite Donald Trump’s nonsense, British authorities undertook what The Washington Post described as a “fast-moving investigation” resulting in the arrest Saturday morning of an 18–year–old suspect. No further details have been provided because British police—and politicians—seem to know how to keep their mouths shut so as not to compromise an ongoing investigation.
In his “Wag the Dog” Twitter rant on Friday, Trump did offer one intriguing idea, just not in the context he had implied. “Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner,” his tiny fingers blathered. “The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better!”
Trump loves to unwittingly project his own failings and character flaws. And as it so happens, the internet is one of his main recruitment tools. Maybe we should cut him off and use it better.