The Difference In How Obama And Trump Responded To The London Attack Says It ALL
Yesterday, as you probably know, there was a terrorist attack in London. Four people, including the attacker and a police officer, lost their lives while 29 others were wounded. The perpetrator was a British citizen who claimed allegiance to Daesh (ISIS/ISIL).
Whenever horrifying acts of violence occur, nations look to their leader for support, for comfort, for strength, and for guidance.
The reactions of those leaders in times of crisis separate the great men from ordinary men, and that couldn’t be more obvious in this case.
President Donald Trump had this to say about the attacks.
A great American, Kurt Cochran, was killed in the London terror attack. My prayers and condolences are with his family and friends.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2017
Spoke to U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May today to offer condolences on the terrorist attack in London. She is strong and doing very well.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2017
Trump very specifically only decided to mourn the dead American. He also only focused on his counterpart, Theresa May, and reassured America that she was “strong.” That choice of word is an illuminating insight into his own twisted psyche, which is ruled by toxic conceptions of hypermasculinity. Trump lives in abject terror of being seen as “weak” and only assigns positive value to “strong” things.
Coming a few days after President Trump publicly accused the United Kingdom of helping his predecessor spy on him, it’s clear Trump is no hurry to mend relations with our oldest and closest ally, nor feels the need to reassure their citizenry that he feels their pain and cares about them at all.
President Obama, on the other hand, sent a message of love and compassion to all the victims of the attack, choosing to share a message of hope and unity instead of projecting his own insecurities.
My heart goes out to the victims and their families in London. No act of terror can shake the strength and resilience of our British ally.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 23, 2017
The differences between the two men couldn’t be more clear. Trump sees the opportunity to subtly reinforce his “America First” message and to reassure the world that he only speaks to “strong” leaders, while President Obama reacted like a normal, empathetic human being who recognized the pain and the hurt that so many British citizens must be going through right now.
As Trump plunges deeper down a wormhole of paranoid conspiracy theories and the intoxicating delusions of his own narcissism, the loss of President Obama is felt stronger than ever. It is absolutely appalling that Trump would be so obviously callous in his public message of condolence to our closest ally.
Perhaps it’s because Trump’s closest ally lives in Moscow, not London.
