New polling from Pew released this morning shows how America's image abroad has rebounded since the American people rejected Trump. Throughout Donald Trump’s presidency, publics around the world held the United States in low regard, with most opposed to his foreign policies. This was especially true among key American allies and partners. Now, a new Pew Research Center survey of 16 publics finds a significant uptick in ratings for the U.S.... In each of the 16 publics surveyed, more than six-in-ten say they have confidence in Biden to do the right thing in world affairs. Looking at 12 nations surveyed both this year and in 2020, a median of 75% express confidence in Biden, compared with 17% for Trump last year."
Around the world, people see Biden as qualified and as a strong leader-- far more so than Trump. In Germany, for example, just 6% of the public saw Trump as qualified to be president, while 80% see Biden as qualified. In Greece, where there is a very strong fascist opposition, 33% of the public saw Trump as qualified-- the most of any country surveyed-- but more than double that (69%) see Biden as qualified. Most people in all countries surveyed perceived Trump as both arrogant and dangerous-- very different from how they see Biden. Over 90% of people in Canada, Holland, France, Sweden, Spain saw Trump as arrogant. Biden's worst score in that regard is from Singapore, where he is judged arrogant by 19% of respondents. Majorities in every country saw Trump as dangerous, the worst being France (78%), South Korea (76%), Germany (76%), Spain (76%) and Sweden (74%).
Coincidentally, Charlie Sykes' Bulwark column this morning, A Political Rorschach Test, asked his readers what their first reaction was when they heard that Biden is buying 500 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to donate via Covax, to other countries.
Sykes asked if readers thought:
• This is what makes America good and great
• Why should we care about the rest of world, because America First?
• How much does this cost? Because I’m really worried about all this spending and deficits.
• BigPharma is evil and greedy. We should seize the means of the production.
• Hundreds of millions of foreigners will be able to “put a key on their forehead. It sticks. They can put spoons and forks all over them and they can stick.
He's going to follow up with another column over the weekend highlighting responses from his readers. No surprise that this uneducated sociopath, a high school dropout, thinks about it:
Yesterday, former Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, a very conservative and at times deranged Virginia Republican wrote an OpEd for the NY Times, urging her fellow Republicans to stop fearing this dangerous and diminished man. "When Donald Trump, the patron saint of sore losers," she began, "appeared at a Republican event on Saturday night and compared the 2020 election to a 'third-world-country election like we’ve never seen before,' it wasn’t just another false rant from the former president. His words also described his attempted subversion of democracy in the run-up to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Republicans, instead of opposing a commission to investigate the events of Jan. 6, need to be at the forefront of seeking answers on the insurrection and diminishing the power of QAnon and the other conspiracy theories that Mr. Trump has fueled. While he is still popular within the party, Mr. Trump is a diminished political figure: 66 percent of Americans now hope he won’t run again in 2024, including 30 percent of Republicans. He is not the future, and Republicans need to stop fearing him. He will continue to damage the party if we don’t face the Jan. 6 facts head-on.
Nothing less than a full investigation is essential. As a House Republican chief counsel during the Clinton administration, I see a clear set of unanswered questions about Jan. 6, as well as evidence that needs to be gathered and that our country needs to understand. An investigation should cover the events related and leading up to Jan. 6, as well as all the parties involved. Who planned and funded the Trump rally that day, and who picked the speakers and got attendees there? How did supporters of QAnon, Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys get there? What happened as the White House planned for Jan. 6?
...Trump’s lies are red meat to those in the conspiracy world who have already demonstrated what they are prepared to do. The danger also extends to states, as Mr. Trump tells people that election outcomes in Georgia and Arizona will be overturned, and he could be reinstated as president in August. How will QAnon followers or Oath Keepers respond when that does not happen?
Many Republicans rationalize ignoring his rhetoric: His speech on Saturday wasn’t even aired live on Fox or CNN, and he may end up being indicted in New York and occupied with legal and financial problems. So, this thinking goes, what’s the harm in humoring the guy a little longer?
The harm is that the lies have metastasized and could threaten public safety again. The U.S. Capitol Police report that threats against members of Congress have increased 107 percent this year. Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican, has noted, “There’s no reason to believe that anybody organically is going to come to the truth.” Representative Liz Cheney, another Republican, said, “It’s an ongoing threat, so silence is not an option.”
Humoring the guy also emboldens Mr. Trump’s pardoned allies like Steve Bannon and his former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Republicans are now flocking to Mr. Bannon’s podcast to audition for Mr. Trump’s support, and Mr. Bannon says “a litmus test” will be whether they are willing to challenge the outcome of the 2020 election. Later this month, Mr. Flynn will appear at an Oklahoma campaign rally with Jackson Lahmeyer, a political novice who is challenging Senator James Lankford, the Republican incumbent. Mr. Lahmeyer claims the 2020 election was stolen and touts Mr. Flynn’s endorsement, saying we have to be willing to “Fight Like a Flynn.”
Republicans would be better advised to fight like Senator Margaret Chase Smith. During the Joseph McCarthy era in 1950, she advised fellow Republicans that the Democrats had already provided Republicans with sufficient campaign issues, and they need not resort to McCarthy’s demagogy.
The same is true today. Republicans need to have more faith in their policies and stop being afraid of a dangerous and diminished man who has divided the country and now divides our party. Reconsider the commission, let the investigation go ahead, and run and win in 2022 on the truth.