Former GOP strategist Steve Schmidt took the gloves off Thursday night, calling Donald Trump “weak” and “gutless” after he totally surrendered to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
In an interview on MSNBC, Schmidt said Trump’s press conference on Monday with Putin was the “weakest performance by an American president – the head of state of the United States standing next to a foreign leader – in the history of electronic recordings of these type of events.”
“We’ve never seen a weaker performance by a president of the United States,” he added.
Video of Schmidt’s takedown of Trump:
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
.@SteveSchmidtSES said, “We’ve never seen a weaker performance by a president of the United States” than Trump’s Helsinki press conference with Vladimir Putin. #ctl #p2 #Trump #Russia pic.twitter.com/XscYyi9uj4
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) July 19, 2018
The former Republican strategist said:
The weakest performance by an American president – the head of state of the United States standing next to a foreign leader – in the history of electronic recordings of these type of events. We have never seen a weaker performance by a President of the United States standing next to any leader, let alone one that has attacked the country, that has attacked the elections process, that is responsible for war crimes across the Middle East, the annexation of his neighboring states and his attempts to weaken liberal democracy all across the world. Not a single line of opposition to him. It was gutless, it was weak, it was servile and it is unprecedented for an American president to show that type of weakness. And I think that when you look at why is he doing this, there are no good answers. And I think that, increasingly, as we look forward, this president is becoming more unhinged. He is becoming more erratic. His behavior is becoming more alarming with each passing day. And though there are all sorts of people that are trying to excuse it away, the whole country just saw what they saw with their own eyes and it’s not good for this president, and it’s certainly not good for the United States.
GOP lawmakers need to stand up to Trump – or get voted out
Schmidt is no longer a Republican, but the party he left behind should follow his lead – or face the wrath of the American voter in November.
For a year and a half, the Republicans have sat idly by as Trump tears American institutions and credibility to shreds. As a result, Trump has become increasingly empowered and unhinged, and America has become more isolated from its allies – all while latching onto its foes.
This week, the president added fuel to his personal dumpster fire by surrendering to a foreign adversary on live television. His cleanup effort following the Helsinki disaster has only made things worse.
If Republicans don’t stand up now, as Steve Schmidt noted on Thursday, then Trump will only become more dangerous and out of control, and it’ll make his disaster in Helsinki look like a picnic.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
