July 20, 2017
ON THE OTHER HAND, SHE IS ASIAN:
Trump says he sat with Putin at dinner because the wife of Japan's leader doesn't speak English. But she does. (Laura King, 7/20/17, LA Times)
President Trump said Wednesday that a lack of English conversational skills on the part of Akie Abe, the wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, prompted him to leave his spot next to her at dinner at an international summit and talk with Vladimir Putin instead.Mrs. Abe "doesn't speak English ... like, not 'Hello,'" Trump told the New York Times in an interview.Not so.Akie Abe, the daughter of a wealthy Japanese family, attended a private Roman Catholic international school in Tokyo before going on to college. The elementary-through-high-school academy, the Sacred Heart School, includes rigorous English-language instruction as part of its curriculum.And social media swiftly found clips of the 55-year-old Abe making speeches in somewhat accented but perfectly serviceable English.
Rude to an ally; subservient to an enemy--his presidency in a sentence.
Posted by Orrin Judd at July 20, 2017 1:44 PM