Donald Trump's brazen comments are reaching beyond the contentious election.
His Muslim comments and his idea to withdraw from the NATO alliance are “as disturbing to our allies as President Obama’s inaction on foreign policy,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R.-Ill., told me last week.
Kinzinger, a three-term lawmaker and U.S. Air Force veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, spoke on the heels of a trip that took him to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and Spain.
The Illinois congressman was accompanied by several colleagues from the Senate and House as well as rock singer and social activist Bono from the band U2.
Although Kinzinger declined to identify which leader singled out Trump for criticism, he did say that “almost every leader I spoke to on our trip brought up [Trump’s comments on foreign policy].”
Among the world leaders that Kinzinger and his colleagues met with on their trip were Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi King Salman, and Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
He did say that Trump’s call for “banning all Muslims” from the U.S. for a period of time caused particular consternation among the leaders with whom he met. In so doing, Kinzinger echoed remarks made in Cairo by Sen. Lindsay Graham, R.-S.C., who was on the same trip that Trump’s remarks were “dumb” and the U.S. should be cultivating “moderate Muslims” as allies against ISIS.
Kinzinger also said that Trump’s talk of the U.S. pulling out of the NATO alliance was “particularly disturbing” to some of the leaders with whom he met. In his words, “they said they always saw America as a land of alliances that built alliances. So it’s a little upsetting to them when they hear a leading candidate for president talk of tearing alliances apart.”
Formerly a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Kinainger is considered a key House Republican player on international issues. In 2013, he was the premier congressional leader behind a resolution of support for U.S. support of an airstrike against Syria until the administration decided to back away from moving with force against the Assad regime.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.
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