When President Trump first tries to cover up the blatant killing and gruesome dismemberment of a journalist critical of the Saudi government and then, when denial isn’t plausible, tries to pretend it wasn’t carried out under the orders of Saudi Arabia’s effective ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman but by rogue killers with the government, he moves America one step closer to the depravity demonstrated by the worst kind of dictatorial governments.
In no small way, he equates America with the likes of the Crown Prince, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
That Trump cannot fathom how such a stance undermines America might may be his greatest shortcoming, and have the gravest long-term impact on America’s status as a world leader. He not only diminishes America in the eyes of the world, but also diminishes the values this country has long held dear.