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President Donald Trump skewered as ‘friendless’ and ‘awkward’ in viral take-down

THE ABC’s Chris Uhlmann stunned America with his first brutal takedown of Donald Trump. Today he’s taken another swipe at the US president.

Bronte Coy and Liz Burke
3 min read
July 10, 2017 - 1:55PM
Aussie journalist brutally takes down Trump

THE ABC journalist whose savage take-down of Donald Trump’s G20 performance went viral has doubled down on his scathing assessment.

Political editor Chris Uhlmann pulled no punches when he delivered his wrap-up of Trump’s appearance at the conference on Sunday, calling him an “uneasy, lonely, awkward figure” who was left “isolated and friendless” with “no desire and no capacity to lead the world”.

But even after the brutal commentary was shared thousands of times across the world and caught the attention of Washington heavyweights, Uhlmann was not deterred to further critique the President’s performance.

In a cross to ABC radio’s AM program on Monday morning, the reporter again railed against Mr Trump’s leadership style while discussing his lack of commitment to addressing the situation in North Korea at the weekend’s summit.

“What the expectation was on North Korea was the United States would say well, OK, here’s an issue that we want to make something of. They are the biggest gorilla, still, in the room,” Uhlmann said.

“The problem was the call never came, which I think, is indicative of the fact this President of the United States doesn’t grasp the opportunity to lead when that opportunity it presented to him.”

Trump didn’t exactly receive rave reviews for his G20 efforts. Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Trump didn’t exactly receive rave reviews for his G20 efforts. Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The ABC veteran’s scathing comments came after his earlier rant was shared around the world.

On Sunday, he said: “He has a particular skill set: he’s identified an illness in Western democracies, but he has no cure for it and seems intent on exploiting it.”

And according to Uhlmann, we all need to give up on any hope that the speeches written for Trump and delivered by the man himself are any reflection of his true thoughts.

“It’s the unscripted Trump that’s real: a man who barks out bile in 140 characters, who wastes his precious days as President at war with the West’s institutions like the judiciary, independent government agencies, and the free press.”

The reporter added: “Mr Trump is a man who craves power because it burnishes his celebrity. To be constantly talking and talked about is all that really matters ... and there is no value placed on the meaning of words, so what is said one day can be discarded the next.”

Uhlmann also pointed out that given the uncomfortable divide between himself and the most of the other G20 leaders on the Paris Climate Accord, a “deft” President would have found a topic with which to rally them.

“And he had the perfect one: North Korea’s missile tests,” the reporter explained.

“Other leaders expected it [a statement condemning it], they were prepared to back it, but it never came.”

At the end of the two minute video, Uhlmann provided a chilling prediction for the future under this US President.

“Donald Trump has pressed fast forward on the decline of the United States as a global leader. Some will cheer the decline of America, but I think we’ll miss it when it’s gone — and that’s the biggest threat to the values of the West, which he claims to hold so dear.”

The video has been retweeted more than 15,000 times since being posted this morning.

Watch the full clip for yourself below:

It’s attracted plenty of attention already across the American media landscape, with a number of journalists, reporters and commentators applauding Uhlmann’s bluntness and sharing the video themselves.

The brutal words are likely to have now been heard in the White House, with Uhlmann’s Twitter handle currently trending in Washington.

Uhlmann said he was surprised that his editorial had such a strong reaction, but understood his views were widely held.

“You can only imagine given the number of times that it’s been picked up by people that it strikes a chord in many ways, that’s it’s not an original view, it’s a view of a great many people and their fears about this President of the United States,” he said on Monday.

“I think with a lot of people they’re well-held fears. They’re not things that people are doing maliciously, they’re just worried about the future of the United States, and where the United States goes so do we given it’s one of our key allies.”

Originally published as President Donald Trump skewered as ‘friendless’ and ‘awkward’ in viral take-down

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/president-donald-trump-skewered-as-friendless-and-awkward-in-viral-takedown/news-story/cd92a7a425e8126e01b9c5bdb9143688