South China Morning Post :
Malaysian elder statesman Mahathir Mohamad, known for his own iconoclasm and strongman leadership during two stints as prime minister, believes the re-election of United States President Donald Trump in November would spell “disaster”.
During a wide-ranging interview with This Week In Asia programme of South China Morning Post focused on his own country’s political turmoil, the 94-year-old former premier also dismissed the Trump administration’s claim that China should take responsibility for the coronavirus pandemic. Mahathir, who for decades revelled in his reputation as an anti-West champion of developing countries, said the US president’s “belligerence” had exacerbated tensions between the two superpowers.
“I never thought he would win, but he won,” Mahathir said during the interview, conducted via videoconferencing app Zoom. “[Now] people are saying there are a lot of people who would support him. It would be a disaster.” By comparison, Mahathir said former vice-president Joe Biden, who is the Democratic nominee, was a more “reasonable”
figure who had reacted with empathy to America’s recent race-related unrest. “I don’t know whether he will be re-elected, but I hope Biden will be different from him,” Mahathir said, adding that he had told some Americans “I am voting for Biden [even though] I don’t have the right to vote”. He conceded his country has endured its fair share of political dysfunction – he was unseated as prime minister in a shock political coup in March – but he remained perplexed by the White House’s revolving door. “You know, he sacks all the staff that are not for him,” Mahathir said. “It sounds like a Third World country. In Malaysia, probably we do that – we don’t like a staff [member], we sack him. But this is America: very, very liberal and tolerant and things like that.” Mahathir said he had been observing the nationwide protests in the US that erupted following the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis. He said he was taken aback by Trump’s purported willingness to deploy active-duty troops against demonstrators. “I mean, he threatens to use the army against people who are demonstrating,” Mahathir said. “It’s unheard of.” He added that he was appalled when Trump last week suggested Martin Gugino, a 75-year-old man critically injured by police during a demonstration in Buffalo, could be a saboteur linked to Antifa, a far-left protest movement. “How can you say that? You must have clear evidence,” Mahathir said. “Was [Gugino] really acting or is it true what happened? The whole press says it’s true what happened.” Trump and key figures in his administration, such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have also accused Beijing of seeking to conceal the extent of the coronavirus outbreak earlier this year. Robert O’Brien, Trump’s national security adviser, in May likened China’s alleged effort to downplay the severity of the virus to the Soviet Union’s cover-up of the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in 1986.
Malaysian elder statesman Mahathir Mohamad, known for his own iconoclasm and strongman leadership during two stints as prime minister, believes the re-election of United States President Donald Trump in November would spell “disaster”.
During a wide-ranging interview with This Week In Asia programme of South China Morning Post focused on his own country’s political turmoil, the 94-year-old former premier also dismissed the Trump administration’s claim that China should take responsibility for the coronavirus pandemic. Mahathir, who for decades revelled in his reputation as an anti-West champion of developing countries, said the US president’s “belligerence” had exacerbated tensions between the two superpowers.
“I never thought he would win, but he won,” Mahathir said during the interview, conducted via videoconferencing app Zoom. “[Now] people are saying there are a lot of people who would support him. It would be a disaster.” By comparison, Mahathir said former vice-president Joe Biden, who is the Democratic nominee, was a more “reasonable”
figure who had reacted with empathy to America’s recent race-related unrest. “I don’t know whether he will be re-elected, but I hope Biden will be different from him,” Mahathir said, adding that he had told some Americans “I am voting for Biden [even though] I don’t have the right to vote”. He conceded his country has endured its fair share of political dysfunction – he was unseated as prime minister in a shock political coup in March – but he remained perplexed by the White House’s revolving door. “You know, he sacks all the staff that are not for him,” Mahathir said. “It sounds like a Third World country. In Malaysia, probably we do that – we don’t like a staff [member], we sack him. But this is America: very, very liberal and tolerant and things like that.” Mahathir said he had been observing the nationwide protests in the US that erupted following the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis. He said he was taken aback by Trump’s purported willingness to deploy active-duty troops against demonstrators. “I mean, he threatens to use the army against people who are demonstrating,” Mahathir said. “It’s unheard of.” He added that he was appalled when Trump last week suggested Martin Gugino, a 75-year-old man critically injured by police during a demonstration in Buffalo, could be a saboteur linked to Antifa, a far-left protest movement. “How can you say that? You must have clear evidence,” Mahathir said. “Was [Gugino] really acting or is it true what happened? The whole press says it’s true what happened.” Trump and key figures in his administration, such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have also accused Beijing of seeking to conceal the extent of the coronavirus outbreak earlier this year. Robert O’Brien, Trump’s national security adviser, in May likened China’s alleged effort to downplay the severity of the virus to the Soviet Union’s cover-up of the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in 1986.
