Undemocratic leaders around the world are taking a "guilty pleasure" in watching events unfold in the United States, Politico writes. "There's a credibility issue when it comes to the rule of law, particularly with the firing of [former FBI Director James] Comey," explained the Washington director of Human Rights Watch, Sarah Margon.
But that's not all:
In addition to firing Comey ... the examples cited by critics include: Trump's scathing criticisms of federal judges who have ruled against his policies; his family's entanglement of business and political interests; his baseless charges of massive voter fraud; his accusation that President Barack Obama wiretapped him; and his routine branding of negative media stories as "fake news." [Politico]
The finger-pointing has already begun. One recent Chinese delegation claimed Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner resembled a "princeling" in their own country who mixed business and politics. In another example, when "Capitol Hill aides warned officials from another repressive foreign government that they could pay a political price for human rights abuses, their visitors scoffed," Politico writes. "President Donald Trump had just called their leader, they said, and told him he was doing a great job."
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A diplomat from another "undemocratic nation" told Politico that with the events unfolding in the U.S., "now you guys can't lecture everyone else anymore."
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