Everyone piles on after Donald Trump’s bizarre “I can’t imagine why” moment

| 7:07 pm EDT August 13, 2019
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There’s a troubling controversy playing out on the world stage right now, and for once, it doesn’t directly involve Donald Trump. The government of China and protesters in Hong Kong are on the verge of a potential military showdown, and it’s far from clear how things will ultimately play out. The thing is, Trump is taking heat for it anyway – and he appears to be rather confused as to why.

Donald Trump posted this surreal, childlike tweet about the international incident: “Many are blaming me, and the United States, for the problems going on in Hong Kong. I can’t imagine why?” He then added: “Our Intelligence has informed us that the Chinese Government is moving troops to the Border with Hong Kong. Everyone should be calm and safe!”

This quickly prompted just about everyone to begin helpfully explaining to Trump why he’s taking the heat. For starters, his second tweet served as a reminder that Trump has no idea what to say or do in situations where he’s supposed to show presidential leadership. It evokes memories of when Michael Scott from The Office ran around in a panic during a fire and screamed at everyone to stay calm.

In addition, the clueless weakness that Donald Trump has shown toward China in general (predictably failed tariffs, etc) has quite possibly emboldened China in its decision to send troops toward Hong Kong. When the President of the United States is a clueless compromised idiot who spends his days carrying out Twitter feuds from bed, world leaders know that the U.S. isn’t going to be able to do anything to stop them from doing whatever they want.