MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan Says What The 'Rest Of The World' Is Thinking About Trump

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan said Sunday the “rest of the world is probably wondering why” Donald Trump hasn’t been prosecuted yet, arguing that other nations routinely prosecute former leaders.

“Speaking as a relatively new citizen to this country, one thing that is uniquely American about [the country] is that no former president of the United States has ever been charged with a criminal offense,” said Hasan, who was born in England and became a U.S. citizen in 2020. “While that may seem normal to you, it is not normal everywhere else in the world.”

“Former leaders and countries across the globe are being prosecuted and imprisoned all the time. Really,” he added, citing Israel’s corruption trial for its former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, France’s three-year prison sentence for its former President Nicolas Sarkozy and Peru’s history of prosecuting its former presidents on corruption charges.

Link to tweet

Hasan pointed to a question posed at a recent White House press briefing by a reporter, who asked if Joe Biden’s administration was concerned about the “signal that it sends to the rest of the world” that FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into whether he illegally took and stored classified documents at the Florida resort.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/msnbc-s-mehdi-hasan-says-what-the-rest-of-the-world-is-thinking-about-trump/ar-AA11tGJH

No other president has been as bad as Trump. He makes Nixon look like a choirboy by comparison.

[CrispyQ]

1. I'll bet our allies are shitting bricks that he's walking free & shooting off his mouth. -nt

[Justice matters.]

4. Not really. They are facepalming at the treasonous clown AND the Department of (in)Justice.

Pretty sure they ordered their own Intelligence departments to stop sharing any intel they have until the orange hitler and his corrupt henchment are locked up.

[DURHAM D]

2. Can't stand and won't watch Hasan.

I assume he concluded his story by blaming the Democrats.

[dchill]

3. That's a safe bet.

[gab13by13]

6. He is one of the few cable news anchors who I still watch,

I wish we had 50 more just like him.

[2naSalit]

9. +1

[greblach]

11. Disagree

I am actually in support of his work...there are a few that I cringe at regularly on MSNBC...Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd, Alex Witt...helpful new perspective journalists include Velshi, Zerlina, Capeheart, Melber...My main choice has been Chris Hayes for thorough reviews...although there are many other good ones (Lawrence, Maddow, etc)

[soldierant]

17. Agree with your analysis 100%

but for me, being able ot not being able to watch a news personality has little to do with how good their work is. Something else is going on. For instance., Brian Taylor Cohen, IMO, does excellent work, but I can't watch. And there seem to be a lot of people who feel that way about Rachel.

Greblach may indeed disapprove of Hasan's work - but they didn't exactly say that. They said they couldnt stand to watch him. The two things are not the same - at least, not for everyone.

[FoxNewsSucks]

13. He does a great job.

When I watched, I've never seen him "blame Democrats" for something that wasn't actually done.

[Kahuna]

20. Same. Can't stand that guy. nt

[tecelote]

5. Well, No former President has ever been impeached twice.

So, let's make history again. Jail him.

[Ponietz]

7. Peru doesn't tolerate corrupt ex-presidents

[Uncle Joe]

8. Because Trump is mega-wealthy combined with no moral or ethical compass and that's the idol

Last edited Mon Sep 5, 2022, 06:01 PM - Edit history (1)

of Wall Street capitalism.

The United States is dominated by oligarchs and they want to keep it that way.

They believe the source of our power is our wealth not our people.

You can see it in CNN's shift and this judge's non-sensical "ruling."

It's all about making mega-bucks and getting power, democracy and the rule of law are window dressing here.

Thanks for the thread Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

[SheltieLover]

10. The rest of the world doesn't understand US "justice" double standard

[Nasruddin]

12. I think they do

It's not that uncommon, unequal treatment

They may find it shocking to see it on display in the US

[SleeplessinSoCal]

14. The American working man seems uniquely to have a soft spot for criminals.

We know this from movies going back to western and gangster films staring Bogart, Cagney and Robinson and earlier in the 20s.

But when googling to find proof of this, countless sites attacking liberals pop up.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=american%20working%20man%20soft%20spot%20for%20criminals&ko=-1&ia=web

[stopdiggin]

16. well, "soft spot for criminals"

has been a right wing talk radio 'shtick' for years - so you might have to rephrase that query.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

18. but it is accurate to say it.

They merely twist the truth to suit themselves.

All the 30s criminals in particular. And before them Jesse James, Billy the Kid through Butch Cassidy and Sundance.

We are a primed pump for idealizing crime.

[stopdiggin]

19. Oh, I totally agree with your premise

And Americans might grade particularly high on the scale. But I'd also argue that it's also somewhat universal.

We've also given at least a nodding deference toward - outlaw bikers, prison culture, moonshiners and bootleggers, drug runners, mafia, pirates, vikings, indian fighters, and more recently tech titans and wall street wolves - mythologizing, lionizing, and more importantly, grafting a wholly imaginary 'culture and honor system' on to some of the most filthy degenerates that ever stood upright.

It's a curious perversion that we seem to share.

[stopdiggin]

15. and there's probably some pretty good examples

in recent history - why prosecuting political opponents and former leaders, is not such a sound practice. The journalist makes a valid point - but I'm not sure if that necessarily discredits the American record in toto. Hammering political opponents is a favored authoritarian gambit.

(which is not to say that some political leaders - and almost certainly Trump - are not completely deserving of charges and time in the courts)

[Ray Bruns]

21. This crap goes right back to Ford pardoning Nixon.

Nixon should have been prosecuted and imprisoned.

[inthewind21]

23. Bingo!

[wnylib]

22. One problem in the US with prosecuting a former president

is that American politics are very vindictive. No matter how corrupt and criminal that a US president is, if you prosecute him for crimes, then his party will retaliate with investigations and charges as soon as they have enough numbers in Congress to do it.

There is too little consensus in US politics for a baseline of expected behavior by a President that would make it possible for both parties to accept prosecution for anyone who crosses the baseline.

After Nixon, when Democrats had a popular president (Clinton) that Republicans could not defeat politically at the polls, the Republicans went after him with a lengthy investigation and impeachment which they knew that the Senate would not convict him of. Nothing that Clinton did rose to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. Not even close. But, it was 1) payback for Nixon and, 2) a means of discrediting Democrats in order to win the 2000 election. They still lost the election, so they used the SC to steal it.

That's what happens in the US when a President or former President faces charges. Instead of the charges being treated as a matter of law, they become a political circus that further cripples governance for decades afterward.

I still say we have to follow through on Trump, but there will be a political shitstorm afterward.

What we need most is a strong Democratic Congress and President long enough to clean up the system that allows corporations and the upper 10% to buy the government.

[inthewind21]

24. No, what we need

Is EQUAL justice under the law. Period. Democrats have regularly "cleaned up the messes of republicans" throughout history why do we choose to keep nailing one foot to the floor and walking in circles? The problem is we spout a bunch of bullshit such as NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW. When in reality there are MANY who are indeed above the law. Because hay, we wouldn't want any vindictive politics. Lather, rinse, repeat!

[wnylib]

25. As a practical matter, we won't get equal justice under the law

until the power of corporations and the ultra wealthy is curbed. They buy politicians and judges and own the media. We need financial reforms on a scale like FDR achieved.

[eppur_se_muova]

26. Count on Mehdi to bring the cosmopolitan viewpoint.

I wish MSNBC would go back to repeat airings of his shows late Sundays.