“Do you know what former U.S. President Donald Trump did to Otto Warmbier’s parents? He said, ‘Kim Jong-un (North Korea’s State Affairs Commission Chairman) did not know about North Korea’s torture of Warmbier.’ “I heard Kim Jong-un said that in ‘Love Letter.’”
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s campaign rally held in Neshua, New Hampshire, U.S. on the 20th (local time). When former Ambassador Haley said this while mentioning Warmbier, an American college student who was detained in North Korea for 17 months and died six months after being repatriated to the United States in 2017, the audience said, “Oh my God…” “A sigh broke out. Former Ambassador Haley raised her voice targeting former President Trump, saying, “We should not be friends with dictators and bullies when the world is engulfed in the embers of war.”
Former Ambassador Haley directly criticized former President Trump’s North Korea policy at three campaign rallies that day. The New Hampshire primary, held on the 23rd, is the gateway to determining whether former President Trump will actually be confirmed as the Republican presidential candidate. In this situation, former Ambassador Haley brought up the so-called ‘bromance’ between former President Trump and Chairman Kim as a winning move to attack.
Former Ambassador Haley devoted about 10 minutes of her 30-minute speech at the rally on this day to foreign policy, taking aim at former President Trump. Former Ambassador Haley said, “Europe and the Middle East are at war, North Korea is testing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can hit the U.S. mainland, and China is marching (for war).” He continued, “When America is divided and the whole world is engulfed in the embers of war, the U.S. presidency can no longer be a game.”
He also criticized former President Trump for flaunting his personal letter with Chairman Kim, saying, “Do you know how difficult it must have been for Warmbier’s parents to hear the U.S. President say that he ‘wrote a love letter’ to the person who tortured their son?” did. At a campaign rally in Peterboro this afternoon, he said, “Trump praised Xi Jinping (Chinese President) more than a dozen times even after China spread the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19),” and then met with reporters, saying, “Trump has a relationship with dictators.” “I’m obsessed with it,” he said.
In response to former Ambassador Haley’s offensive, former President Trump did not mention Chairman Kim, President Xi, or Russian President Vladimir Putin at a rally in Manchester this afternoon. Regarding North Korea, he only said, “Until three years ago, Iran, China, Russia, and North Korea were suppressed.” Former President Trump has mentioned his close relationship with Chairman Kim at every campaign rally, saying, “(If I were president) Kim Jong-un would not have threatened the United States,” during the previous day’s campaign rally.
The bromance between former President Trump and Chairman Kim is expected to emerge as an issue in Republican primaries, including the New Hampshire primary. Haley’s camp announced that it will air a three-minute TV commercial featuring a speech of support by Warmbier’s mother, Cindy Warmbier, starting on the 22nd, the day before the primary.
It is interpreted as a strategy to rally anti-Trump votes by taking advantage of his position as ambassador to the United Nations in New Hampshire, which has a more moderate tendency than Iowa, where former President Trump won a landslide victory. In a Suffolk University opinion poll released on this day, former President Trump received an approval rating of 53%, ahead of former Ambassador Haley (36%) by 17 percentage points. The gap widened by 2 percentage points compared to the same survey on the 18th.
Some analysts say that the New Hampshire primary is leading to a clash between former President Trump’s isolationist line, which advocated ‘America First’, and the interventionist line that values America’s global leadership. The New York Times (NYT) said, “Former Ambassador Haley is appealing to voters with past Republican policies that supported the United States becoming a leader in global diplomacy,” and “The New Hampshire primary will show the Republican Party’s escape from Trump’s isolationism.” “We will decide whether we can find it,” he analyzed.
Neshua·Manchester =
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.