Australian journalist's blistering takedown of Trump goes viral
Critics of the U.S. media routinely accuse reporters of being mean to President Donald Trump. But just wait 'til they hear what this top Australian journalist has to say.
Chris Uhlmann, the political editor at the government-backed Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), delivered scathing remarks on Trump's presidency after the U.S. leader attended his first G20 summit this weekend.
Uhlmann, who is regarded as politically conservative, said Trump was "an uneasy, lonely, awkward figure" at the gathering in Hamburg, Germany.
Trump showed "no desire and capacity to lead the world," the journalist said. And while Trump spoke at length about the threats to Western society, the biggest threat is apparently Trump himself.
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"Donald Trump has pressed fast-forward on the decline of the United States as a global leader. He managed to isolate his nation, to confuse and alienate his allies, and to diminish America," Uhlmann said in a TV broadcast.
"Some will cheer the decline of America, but I think we'll miss it when it's gone."
Well, okay then.
A 2-minute video clip shared by Insiders, ABC's news and politics talk show, was re-tweeted and liked tens of thousands of times apiece. Uhlmann's blistering remarks struck a nerve in the U.S., particularly with fellow journalists and political commentators.
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While the G20 includes the world's 20 largest economies, Uhlmann and many others this weekend dubbed it the "G19," given that the United States is the only member to oppose the Paris Climate Agreement.
The international treaty, which went into effect last year, commits nearly every country to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming.
On Saturday, the G20 leaders issued a communiqué that declares "the Paris Agreement is irreversible" while noting Trump's widely criticized June 1 decision to withdraw the U.S. from the accord.
"The U.S. was left isolated and friendless," Uhlmann noted.
Sad!
Topics Donald Trump Politics
Maria Gallucci was a Science Reporter at Mashable. She was previously the energy and environment reporter at International Business Times; features editor of Makeshift magazine; clean economy reporter for InsideClimate News; and a correspondent in Mexico City until 2011. Maria holds degrees in journalism and Spanish from Ohio University's Honors Tutorial College.
