A newly elected Democratic member of Congress on Friday criticized President Donald Trump, who he said “instinctively sympathizes” with leaders “accused of moral transgressions.”
Rep.-elect Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., said in an interview on CNN that “It seems like the president instinctively sympathizes with powerful leaders who are accused of moral transgressions, and I don't think it's too hard to figure out why that is.”
The incoming legislator pointed to Trump’s believing “foreign dictators,” like Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the assessment of the U.S. intelligence community.
“And that's not just a ridiculous thing that we should laugh at,” Malinowski said, adding that Trump is showing to other nations that they can “get away with anything” if they pay the U.S., and warned that Congress can’t “accept that.”
Malinowski also said that Trump should be taking measures to punish the crown prince for his role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“This is not about blowing up the relationship, it is about sanctioning an individual,” he said. “It is about separating a relationship with Saudi Arabia from our relationship with an incredibly volatile, dangerous and unpredictable young man who is campaigning to be the next ruler of this country for the next 50 years."
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