Michael Bloomberg's sympathy toward authoritarian leaders (Washington Post)

[Skya Rhen]

Last edited Tue Feb 11, 2020, 05:51 PM - Edit history (1)

Link to tweet

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But before he was running for president, Bloomberg spoke about foreign policy off the cuff in interviews. The comments he made show a different side of the former New York mayor’s worldview — specifically, sympathy and understanding for authoritarian leaders and their aggressive or repressive actions.

Bloomberg has already received significant criticism for saying that Xi Jinping “is not a dictator” in a September interview with PBS’s “Firing Line.” He also described the Chinese leader as “responsive” to the democratic wishes of his people.

Now another interview has surfaced. In remarks Bloomberg gave at the Aspen Institute in February 2015, he described Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, annexation of Crimea and hostility to the West as not only understandable but also equivalent to actions the United States has taken over its 200-plus-year history.

Bloomberg then explained that Putin has good reason to be aggressive in Europe because, according to Bloomberg, the West provoked him by expanding NATO.

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Bloomberg then went on to suggest that the United States was guilty of hypocrisy because it led an expansion of Western power and influence up to Russia’s borders while objecting to the Soviet Union’s attempts to place strategic weapons in the Western Hemisphere in the 1960s.

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Foreign policy is indeed complex, especially when it comes to dealing with Russia. That’s why Bloomberg’s misunderstanding of history, false equivalence and sympathy for Putin’s perspective is troubling as he now vies to be the leader of the free world.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/11/not-long-ago-bloomberg-likened-putins-attack-ukraine-americas-annexation-california/#click=https://t.co/ToAahlxDkT

[snowybirdie]

1. This is very scary

His positions are so similar to tRumps. Almost as if Russia wants two US presidential candidates running against each other who share the same sympathies towards them. Hate to be a conspiracy nut, but nothing is unimaginable anymore.

[Skya Rhen]

2. The similarities are eerie.