Turkey. Why did he say Turkey?
Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma was asked this weekend to address the White House’s impeachment defense that President Trump withheld foreign aid to Ukraine as part of a broader effort to fight corruption.
The senator was asked first whether he believes the president held up the aid for truly noble reasons.
“Yes, I do actually think he’s concerned about corruption and the people of Ukraine,” Lankford said.
The Republican lawmaker was asked then to name additional examples of the White House’s efforts to fight corruption abroad.
“Can you give me one more example, one other example of anywhere where President Trump has ever expressed concern about corruption?” asked CNN host Jake Tapper. “Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel — is there any example you can point to where President Trump expressed any concern about corruption?”
“Sure I can, if you want me to send you a long list, I can send you a long list. But you’re trying to put me on the spot,” Lankford responded.
The host persisted, “Just give me a couple examples.”
“You’re trying to put me on the spot to be able to talk about international world policy,” Lankford repeated.
The segment ended without the senator giving an example.
Later, following his appearance on CNN, Lankford went on Twitter to clarify his position, writing, “I was asked this morning on [CNN] where [the president] is fighting corruption. I think it’s obvious but here’s the list Iran, Venezuela, Turkey, North Korea, Cuba, China, Columbia, Libya…to name a few.”
I was asked this morning on @CNN where @RealDonaldTrump is fighting corruption. I think it’s obvious but here’s the list Iran, Venezuela, Turkey, North Korea, Cuba, China, Columbia, Libya…to name a few.
— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford) January 24, 2020
Turkey? Turkey!
Lankford could not have picked a worse example. Truly.
The White House’s accommodating approach to Turkey has been so bad, and so deferential, that it nearly overshadows all of the good foreign policy accomplishments by the Trump administration.
Consider the following articles:
- Bloomberg News: “Trump Explored Cutting Grants for Schools Tied to Erdogan Foe”
- The New York Times: “Behind Trump’s Dealings With Turkey: Sons-in-Law Married to Power”
- Time magazine: “President Trump Said in 2015 That He Has a ‘Little Conflict of Interest’ in Turkey”
Those conflicts of interest, by the way, still exist. A more cynical person would say these explain the White House’s persistent kid-glove treatment of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom Trump called in 2017 to congratulate on winning an election that saw the Turkish tyrant consolidate even more power and control.
Also, don’t forget that Erdogan’s personal guards beat protesters on U.S. soil in 2017 with nary a word of protest from the White House. In fact, Turkish officials claim Trump apologized to Erdogan for the disturbance (the White House denies this).
The administration may be doing a lot of work behind the scenes to fight corruption in foreign governments. The Erdogan regime does not seem to be one of them.
