American Conservative Features Editor Spencer Neale does not hide the disdain he has for President Donald Trump — or the unjustified scorn Trump shows for better presidents.Neale points out that Trump filled his Thursday press conference with blame for former President Barack Obama, accusing “Barack Hussein Obama” of giving “Iran a nuclear deal” and choosing “Iran over Israel and others that didn’t want him to do it.”Then Trump handed the conference over to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who droned on about negotiating “with bombs” as “Trump nodded in and out of sleep beside him,” said Neale.“It was a fitting scene for an administration helmed by a president nearing 80, who has effectively handed control of the Iran war to a former Fox News co-host previously accused by colleagues of habitual drunkenness, sexism, and financial mismanagement,” Neale added.But Trump’s claim that Obama “chose Iran over Israel” is “as absurd as Trump’s second term has itself become,” said Neale.Likewise, Trump appears to be one of the few people who approve of his behavior. Neale points out that Gen Z voters predict the Republican Party is going to lose big in the midterms, primarily because of Trump’s Iran invasion. Even senior White House officials say White House memes mixing cartoon memes with videos of deadly U.S. strikes on Iranian targets make them “feel embarrassed.”“One place Trump has found favor is on Fox News, where Trump joined The Five on Thursday night by phone,” said Neale. “Trump critic Jessica Tarlov was unsurprisingly absent from her usual spot in the cast on Thursday night. That didn’t stop Trump from lobbing a jab at the 42-year-old political strategist, stating ‘the show would be better without her.’”“Trump’s comment revealed what many of us already know about the man; he lives to be celebrated and objects to anyone who dares question his decisions, either political and personal,” said Neale. “The quip about Tarlov is indicative of a presidency insulated from reality.”Meanwhile, Trump is enjoying comfy regular weekends at Mar-a-Lago, while everyday Americans “struggle to finance housing, fill the tank, and pay off long-term debt,” said Neale. And instead of detailing war objectives or explaining how it helps the working-class, Neale said Trump pivots to still more criticism of Obama. “President Obama, he wasn’t a smart man,” Trump recently said after bragging to reporters that he’d “aced” a cognitive test. “I know all about him. He wasn’t a smart man. Highly overrated.”“And though there is merit to the claim that Obama was ‘highly overrated,’ Trump appears to be vastly overrated himself by the sycophants leading his administration,” said Neale. “He has bungled this war and made a mess of our standing among allies near and far.”“Trump promised to end such foreign policy mistakes. Instead, he allowed himself to be coaxed into a conflict that even the ‘highly overrated’ Obama knew better than to engage in,” said Neale. “Trump’s second term has not just fallen short of his promises, it has made the restraint of Barack Obama look, by comparison, distinctly presidential.”
US and Iraqi officials say kidnapped journalist Shelly Kittleson had been warned of threats
...
Read moreDetails
