President Trump betrayed America's friends, embraced dictators: Kamala Harris
Washington: Democratic vice president nominee Kamala Harris has accused President Donald Trump of "betraying our friends and embracing dictators" as she attacked his "unilateral approach" to his foreign policy that led to America pulling out of the landmark Iran nuclear deal and making the country less safer.
During the only vice presidential debate during the 2020 presidential election held in Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday night, the 55-year-old California Senator stressed foreign policy "might sound complicated" but really is about relationships.
"You've got to keep your word to your friends. You've got to be loyal to your friends. People who've stood with you, you've got to stand with them, Harris said during the 90-minute debate.
"Donald Trump has betrayed our friends and has embraced dictators around the world," she said, inviting strong rebuttal from Vice President Mike Pence who said the Trump administration has "stood strong with our allies."
We've strengthened our alliances ... and stood strong against those who would do us harm," Pence said, strongly defending his boss.
Criticising the Trump administration for taking the US out of the Iran nuclear deal and isolating America, Harris called Trump's foreign policy "unilateral", and "isolationist".
President Trump withdrew the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, in May 2018, in one of the biggest foreign policy decisions. The move was opposed by US allies France, Britain and Germany. The landmark deal was the crowning diplomatic achievement of former president Barack Obama.
"Pew, a reputable research firm, has done an analysis that shows that leaders of all our formerly allied countries now hold in greater esteem and respect Xi Jinping, the head of the Chinese Communist Party president, than they do Donald Trump...," Harris said. "This is where we are today because of a failure of leadership.
On his part, Pence highlighted the Trump administration's record on combating Islamic state and said President Trump "unleashed the American military" and took down Iraqi terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a man responsible for the deaths of thousands.
He said the president had ordered operation that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani early this year.
Harris highlighted that Russia interfered in the 2016 US Presidential elections and said Trump prefers to take the word of Russian President Vladimir Putin over the American intelligence community.
Harris, who aspires to be the first woman vice-president in history, and Pence were separated by plexiglass barriers during the debate. They sat 12.25 feet apart on the debate stage.
Harris, whose mother was from India and father from Jamaica, scripted history in August when she was picked up by the Democratic Party as its vice presidential nominee.
She is the first Black woman and the first Asian-American woman to be selected as the vice presidential nominee of a major political party in the US.
It is for the first time in the American history that an Indian-origin person has taken up the podium for a vice presidential debate.
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'Engineered narratives': West Bengal guv on alleged molestation charges against him
Kolkata, May 2: West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday said he will not be cowed down by “engineered narratives” and the "truth shall triumph” after TMC leaders claimed that a woman working at Raj Bhavan levelled allegations of molestation against him.
In a statement, the Governor said, “Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal,”
To the Raj Bhavan staff "who expressed solidarity with him following some derogatory narratives that were circulated by two disgruntled employees as agents of political parties," a communication by Raj Bhawan said.
The Governor’s statement came after senior TMC leaders claimed this evening in a series of social media posts that the woman, who had levelled the allegations, has been taken to a police station to complain against Bose.
Though police sources said they received a verbal complaint, there was no official word on whether a formal complaint had been registered.
“BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose was accused of molesting a woman. How utterly appalling and Horrifying. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today. The complainant has been taken to the Hare Street police station for filing a complaint. The woman has accused the Governor of molesting her. Shocking and disgraceful,” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said in a post on X.
Fellow TMC MP Saket Gokhale also posted on his X account regarding the issue.
West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said it is “shameful” that the Governor has maligned his post and has used it to “torture a woman”.
“It is appalling and shocking to see such an incident. This is the same Governor who had reached out to Sandeshkhali to talk about women’s rights and Nari Shakti. This is shameful that the Governor sought undue advantages in the pretext of giving her a permanent job. We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will be addressing rallies in Bengal tomorrow to react on this issue,” she said.
According to sources in the Governor's House, the "woman employee with the help of her alleged boyfriend who is also an employee of the Raj Bhavan was blocking complaints (from people) being sent to the Election Commission of India.
"When she was reprimanded for that, she went outside and alleged molestation. She is in the habit of throwing tantrums against her colleagues because of some disease," a Raj Bhavan official said.
The West Bengal Governor and the TMC government have shared an acrimonious relationship since he assumed office in November 2022 and had several run-ins on various issues.
The BJP said it has to be seen whether this a “conspiracy by the TMC” or has an “iota of truth in it”.
“We all know that the TMC is politically cornered on the issue of SSC scam and is looking for a breathing space. So this needs to be seen whether this is a conspiracy by the TMC or it has any iota of truth in it,” BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose accused of molesting a woman. How utterly APPALLING and HORRIFYING. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj…
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) May 2, 2024
Shameful that a constitutional office holder should try to prejudice an impartial investigation by attacking the motive of the complainant. We have seen this happen in that infamous Saturday Hearing of the Supreme Court. Respect women! https://t.co/E6eJLQvFXO
— sanjoy ghose (@advsanjoy) May 2, 2024
