LETTER: Trump copies ‘shithole countries’

In 2018 then newly elected president Donald Trump famously (or infamously) referred to states in Africa as “shithole nations”. Based on his recent actions he has since learnt a lot from them. 

Most of his recent cabinet nominations have nothing to do with ability, but rather reflect unbounded loyalty to Trump (how do you say “cadre deployment” in ’Merican?). 

Many of his picks have been nominated seemingly to undermine, rather than enhance, the very intuitions they have been mandated to oversee. Trump’s initial nominee for attorney-general, Matt Gaetz, is on record declaring his enthusiasm for the wholesale elimination of the federal law enforcement agencies. Thankfully, this US version of our “weekend special” self-destructed.

Trump told the American public during his election campaign he would turn the department of justice into a political operation to destroy his political opponents. Sound familiar?

Trump stated that he wouldn’t be a dictator “except on day one” of a second administration. As any citizen of a “shithole nation” will tell you, being a dictator is never a one-day thing.

Congratulations America for achieving shithole nation status.

Shaun Read
Johannesburg

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