Sanders uses Irish visit to lash Trump
Senator condemns US president’s London outburst
DONALD Trump’s reaction to the weekend’s London terrorist attacks came in for severe criticism in Dublin last night from US senator Bernie Sanders.
The Vermont politician devoted much of his address at the Bord Gáis Theatre in Dublin to a sustained, blistering attack on the US president.
In a spate of tweets, Mr Trump yesterday mocked London mayor Sadiq Khan and used Saturday’s deadly attacks to promote his own travel ban proposal. ‘Trump took his [Mr Khan’s] statements way out of context and used that opportunity of a terrorist attack on London to promote his divisive Muslim ban,’ Mr Sanders said.
Mr Sanders condemned Saturday’s London attacks – the third in as many months – as ‘horrific and senseless’ and said international co-operation was the best way to deal with terrorism.
‘It’s not just terrorism that calls out for international co-operation, it’s climate change, hunger, poverty… the move towards oligarchy… we cannot address these issues unless we stand together as a united world.
‘All countries are safer when we stand together,’ he told the event, which was part of Dublin’s Dalkey Book Festival.
Introducing Mr Sanders at the event earlier, host David McWilliams said the event ‘sold out quicker than Katy Perry…[to] people from all generations, all walks of life. That’s the magic of Bernie.’
Earlier Mr Sanders had met President Michael D Higgins. ‘Michael D and Bernie were chatting away. In an era where presidents can be a bit dodgy, the two were hunkered down talking economics and culture and politics. And I was thinking, “we are so lucky,”’ McWilliams said.
Mr Sanders said the US president has a ‘strong affinity with Vladmir Putin who has tried to destabilise democracy. Why does he feel so close to Putin?’
Before a packed cheering auditorium, the outspoken independent went on to describe Mr Trump’s recent decision to pull out the Paris climate accord ‘as not only incredibly stupid and short-sighted with regard to climate change, it will also end up hurting the American economy and the world economy.’
He added: ‘How in God’s name do you run a government and make policy in defiance of science?’
Mr Sanders, who lost to Hillary Clinton in the Democrats’ presidential candidacy race, vowed he and his colleagues in the US senate would do their utmost to block Trump policies – both on the environment and the economy – from coming to fruition.
He said: ‘There have been massive cuts in virtually every programme that the working class, elderly and the poor depend on. A lot of people are struggling to put food on the table. We have emergency food shelters all over America.’ Meanwhile, he said, the Walton family – the wealthiest family in America – get a $52billion tax break.
Asked whether he would run again for the US president, Mr Sanders, 75, said he didn’t know. Mr Sanders is in Ireland to promote his new book, Our Revolution: A Future To Believe In.
‘Horrific and senseless’