Everyone Trump’s attacked… and the world leaders he strangely hasn’t
The new US president has made vitriolic attacks on activists and the disabled but has praised Middle East autocrats and Israel
Supporters and protesters turn out for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on 20 January 20, in Washington, DC. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images/AFP)
Published date: 20 January 2017 16:49 GMT
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Last update: 8 years 2 months ago
On his extraordinary, tweet-strewn road to the White House, Donald Trump has lashed out wildly at many of his critics, minority groups and women who crossed his path, while reserving praise for some of the world's most widely reviled leaders.
More than 50 members of Congress have said they will boycott the inauguration amid Trump’s spat with Congressman and civil rights veteran John Lewis in the week that Martin Luther King Day is celebrated.
Lewis, a civil rights campaigner, hero and icon to many, was among a number of people attacked by Trump via his Twitter account. Trump tweeted that Lewis was “all talk” following Lewis's remark that he didn't "see this president-elect as a legitimate president".
Lewis is the last surviving speaker from the 1963 march on Washington led by Martin Luther King and was a prominent figure in the civil rights movement in the 60s. Many came to Lewis’s defence, including the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and members of Congress, including Republicans such as Kevin Yoder.
The claim that Lewis was “all talk” was viewed by many as an attack on the civil rights movement and Lewis’s contribution to its achievements.
Lewis is one of many in the long list of figures Trump has criticised recently, mainly through what some have called his favourite outlet: Twitter.
Muslims, Mexicans and CNN
Trump has attacked leading representatives such as former senior Democratic senator Harry Reid
and Senator Chuck Schumer,
not to mention outgoing President Obama himself. He has also criticised entire countries and governments. These include Britain and its "Muslim problem",
China,
Germany,
Saudi Arabia,
Iran,
and Mexico.
Trump has derided Mexicans as drug runners and rapists, labelled Iowans "stupid", called for a ban against Muslims entering the country, mocked Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, as "not a war hero", and offended countless minority groups including the disabled. He has also boasted of groping women and getting away with it, and sprung to the defence of Roger Ailes, the former Fox News CEO accused of sexual harassment.
Trump has been called out on many occasions for repeatedly avoiding the military draft and his lack of respect for those who have served their country. One of the most notable controversies was Trump’s attack on the parents of Muslim American soldier Humayun Khan after Khan's father criticised Trump for “consistently smear(ing) the character of Muslims”.
Trump has also taken on the media, accusing CNN of reporting fake news and calling BuzzFeed "a failing pile of garbage". It seems anyone who dares criticise Trump automatically becomes a target.
Sisi, Assad and Netanyahu
Trump has conversely paid a plethora of compliments to numerous controversial world leaders. His praise of the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was eerily cheerful: “It’s incredible. He wiped out the uncle, he wiped out this one, that one. I mean this guy doesn’t play games.”
In the Middle East, his friendship and ardent support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes back years and stands in contrast to the frosty relationship between Obama and the right-wing Israeli premier.
He has also expressed admiration for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's leadership in the brutal war that has seen hundreds of thousands of Syrians killed, and in reference to the political crisis in Libya commented that “we would be so much better off if Gaddafi were in charge right now”. He has called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who overthrew his predecessor and launched a bloody crackdown on peaceful protestors, “a fantastic guy”.
Putin's asset
James Mattis, Trump’s choice for who should run the Pentagon, has placed Russia at the top of the list of security threats to the US and has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of attempting to destabilise NATO. Russia is also believed to have interfered in the US election, a possibility Trump responded to by describing Putin's potential approval of him as an "asset, not a liability".
Outgoing CIA chief John Brennan has expressed fears that Trump lacks a full understanding of the threat Russia poses to the US.
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