Mike Sigov: Trump should 'go back' to Russia
President's recent slur targeting four Democratic congresswomen of color is ridiculous, coming from someone who got elected with Russia’s help.
By Mike Sigov / The Blade
Thu, 18 Jul 2019 04:00:00 GMT
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President Donald Trump would do America a favor if he “goes back” to where his presidency arguably has come from: Russia.
In a recent tweet, Mr. Trump infamously told four Democratic congressmen of color to “go back” to the country they came from, despite the fact that most of them were born in the United States.
“So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly ...
“ ....and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how ,..” Mr. Trump tweeted.
The racial slur is even more ridiculous coming from someone who got elected with the help of Russia, an adversarial state, as the U.S. intelligence community agrees.
That Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation failed to absolve Mr. Trump of collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice does not speak in Mr. Trump's favor.
Said Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, in a tweet following Mr. Trump's utterance: “... when you are living overseas, the rest of the world ... [sees] Trump as OUR president. And that's the problem. His racist words damage not just his reputation, but America's reputation abroad.”
That's exactly why Russian President Vladimir Putin is happy to have Mr. Trump as the U.S. president.
Mr. Trump’s repeated haranguing of American lawmakers, judiciary, media, and intelligence community is also a gift to Mr. Putin.
Mr. Putin's media and internet trolls promptly spin Mr. Trump's disgrace as that of the United States and by extension of democracy, which the Russian autocrat sees as a direct threat to the kleptocracy he rules.
Run like a Mafia family, Russia does not leave Mr. Putin an option to retire, so he would spare no effort to interfere in a U.S. presidential election in favor of Mr. Trump again.
This is not lost on Mr. Trump and Co., who have sabotaged every effort to protect the upcoming presidential election from foreign interference.
However, we may be so lucky as to see Mr. Trump impeached and removed from office. Or else he may renege on his promise to never resign if he decides to swap his presidency for an offer of no prosecution.
Mr. Trump may then see Mr. Putin's Russia as a welcoming place, where lawmakers, judiciary, and intelligence community are at his buddy’s beck and call.
Mr. Putin would surely grant him Russian citizenship in exchange for the propaganda effect it would have.
Believed to be the world's wealthiest person, the Russian autocrat would probably be also generous enough to make sure Mr. Trump lives comfortably in Mother Russia, which has been so hospitable to him in the past, according to multiple sources, not least of them the Steele dossier, which has been gaining readers lately.
Your humble pundit shares the fate of American print media and can't compete in net worth with Mr. Putin's poorest sycophant, let alone with him.
But should Mr. Trump choose to reside in Russia and should he fall out of his friend Vlad's favor, I will gladly ask my mother to gift her modest dacha [country house] to Mr. Trump. She has become too frail for the country life and may well give up her dacha for a good cause.
On a more serious note, the hope is that come Wednesday, Mr. Mueller's testimony to Congress highlights Mr. Trump's questionable presidency and eventually helps rid us of the insult of having him as commander in chief.
Mike Sigov, a former Russian journalist in Moscow, is a U.S. citizen and a staff writer for The Blade.