Brian Becker and John Kiriakou of Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear spoke to George Galloway, a former UK parliamentarian for both the Labour and Respect Parties.
"I was one of the organizers of Stop the War, possibly the biggest demonstration in British history," said Galloway. "Two million people just before the [Iraq] war in 2003. We saw the the prospect of organizing an even bigger demonstration that has now been cruelly snatched from us by Donald Trump's patently absurd statement. Because he doesn't like the real estate of the new American embassy, he's decided not to come."
Galloway wryly added that, despite what Trump said, it wasn't his predecessor Barack Obama who agreed to move the embassy — it was Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.
Reason I canceled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for “peanuts,” only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
"There are many things to blame Obama for, but the new embassy south of the river, which Trump evidently thinks is a bit of an asshole part of town, is a ‘bad deal.' I don't care whether it's a good deal or a bad deal, but I do feel that we have been robbed of the opportunity to send a worldwide message of rejection of Donald Trump's foreign policies, of his endless stream of excretions over Twitter and of course his most recent racist outburst, which has rightly been condemned all over the world."
Galloway then turned the conversation to American imperialism. "It's a good thing that the American leadership is as ugly as it currently is. It would have been worse if Hillary Clinton had been the American leader, because that would have an entirely unjustified veneer of respectability on a set of really ugly worldviews."
"I'm someone who's been organizing against American hegemony almost literally all of my life; my first demonstration was when I was 14 in 1968 against the war in Vietnam. As someone who's been at this for a very long time, I must tell you that those who've made a career out of regarding the United States as the leader of the free world must feel pretty foolish nowadays."
"The United States is not my leader, never has been my leader, still less my father. In encouraging people around the world to stand up for themselves, stand up to the United States hegemony, Donald Trump's done us all a favor."
Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said “take them out.” Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings — unfortunately, no trust!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made — a big setback for DACA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
Becker then discussed the troubled history between the US and Haiti, which goes back as long as either nation has existed. The island was under US occupation from 1915 to 1934, an occupation that saw several skirmishes between the US military and Haitian rebel groups. The US also enacted an embargo against the repressive military dictatorship that overtook the island in 1986.
"Donald Trump's words were unprecedentedly ugly," said Galloway, referring to Trump's alleged comment that Haiti, El Salvador and a number of African nations were "shithole countries." Trump denied making the comment. "But the United States' actions against Haiti over centuries, not years or decades, were even worse than the ugliest words that Donald Trump can summon up."
