Guest Columnist, Cindi Branham
A bully always buckles when confronted face-to-face by their target. We’ve seen that repeatedly with Trump.
We’ve by now all witnessed the bullying, disrespect and abuse laid on Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky by President Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office on February 28. We have been embarrassed and enraged by their behavior. We have also just witnessed the moment that destroyed any last remnants of world’s trust in the USA.
I become defensive for a person – and myself – when triggered by anyone talking over us. Zelenskyy didn’t.
Leading into the meeting, Trump referred to Zelenskyy as a dictator, accused Ukraine of starting the war and leaving Ukraine out of peace talks with Russia’s Putin.
Trump and Vance orchestrated a spectacle, while Zelenskyy kept his composure as he tried to navigate their disrespectful treatment in good faith through the loud accusations and interruptions, while also watching the loss of America’s support.
In previous State visits, the key players negotiate in private, then come out to the familiar yellow chairs to meet with the media. But there was no attempt to negotiate: It was literally a pre-planned ambush intended to trap Zelenskyy and coerce him into accepting the Russian terms of de-escalation.
Trump offered him a deal that was basically what Russia wanted, with the US (translation: Trump and his billionaire buddies would be enriching themselves) and tried to coerce him into taking it with no room for negotiation.
Just like with Trump’s first impeachment when he tried to convince Zelenskyy to dig up dirt on his then-opponent, Joe Biden.
The abhorrent language and disrespect Trump/Vance showed a beleaguered Zelenskyy in front of the press, several onlookers and cameras instead of in private was embarrassing.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s body language showed that he was embarrassed and disturbed by the verbal exchange. Sunken into the sofa, he appeared miserable and morose, but he just sat there and said nothing, probably as instructed.
The VP is usually not in the room but given Trump’s propensity to fold like a dead snake in the presence of his adversaries, Trump may have needed backup in the plan to ambush and humiliate Zelenskyy.
A recent example: Gov. Gavin Newsome on the tarmac when Trump visited after the horrible and destructive California wildfires. Trump stated publicly that he wouldn’t be meeting with the governor. It’s a long-standing tradition, and who better to know their state…
Gov. Newsome met him with teeming positivity checked by gravity at the bottom of Air Force One’s air stairs, forced him to shake his hand, and completely defused Trump’s criticisms. You could have sworn Trump was meeting another billionaire on his golf course.
A bully always buckles when confronted face-to-face by their target.
Then there was the man off to the right who rudely and totally out of place asked Zelenskyy why he was disrespecting the sanctity of the Oval Office by coming in fatigues, and didn’t he own a suit?
The rest of us know that he has worn fatigues in solidarity with his country and people since Russia’s unprovoked invasion on February 24, 2022. We also respect Zelenskyy for not fleeing his country when he could have but staying to support his people and fight the aggression.
Remember when there were peaceful protestors a block away from the White House and Chicken Don hid in the bunkers below? Yeah, we know courage when we see it.
After that embarrassing Oval Office event, Zelenskyy was brave enough to go on Fox news and state his case, and in a truthful and calm way present his case. He held his own with the Fox interviewer.
Chicken Don wouldn’t debate Vice President Kamala Harris a second time. He is much more effective at tweeting insults and misinformation and hurling insulting and fleeting soundbites on camera, where he’s protected.
The rest of the world is loudly vocal on their disgust of that Oval Office catastrophe. One thing that summed it up for me: The United Kingdom’s Daily Mail (a scandal and untruths print rag among rags) published the headline “A Spectacle to Horrify the World” the next day. When Trump lost the Daily Mail, he become a global pariah.
Trump called the event “good TV,” but the best TV occurred when Trump told his guest he was out of cards and needed to take the deal, to which Zelenskyy responded that he wasn’t playing a game.
America, we may not have figured out how to stop this steamroller implementation of Project 2025 and White male supremacy, but we must call out every transgression this administration makes, and this is one that needs our condemnation.
Because if we don’t do it now, we will come to a point in the not distant future where we can’t.