Trump becoming US President ‘frightening’, says German FM
11 Aug 2016 12:44 AM GMT
Steinmeier “is not neutral” on whether the Republican candidate is fit to occupy the Oval Office, the spokeswoman, Sawsan Chebli, told reporters. “He is of the opinion that it is frightening, if you follow Trump’s remarks, what could become of this world if Trump actually became president,” she said.
“The foreign minister is calling attention to that and that is his right.” Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokeswoman told the same news conference that she would stand by her policy of not commenting on the US election campaign.
Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, had already compared Trump last week to a “hate preacher”, saying he had much in common with “fear-mongers” in Germany’s right-wing populist AfD party as well as advocates of Britain’s exit from the EU.
French President Francois Hollande said Trump makes “you want to retch” following the Republican’s “hurtful and humiliating comments” against the Muslim parents of a slain US soldier who criticised the candidate.
Trump’s bid to take the White House is reeling from a series of self-inflicted scandals after he disparaged Muslims, babies, firefighters and the military, prompting his Republican stablemates to issue awkward denunciations. He stirred new controversy on Tuesday over comments interpreted by some as a threat of violence against rival Hillary Clinton.
20 science questions for US presidential candidates
A coalition of US groups representing more than 10 million scientists and engineers published 20 questions on Wednesdaythey want every US presidential candidate to answer ahead of November’s vote.
The questions range from how to support vaccine science, to defining the scope of America’s goals in space, to the candidates’ views on climate change and what would they would do about it.
Stances on nuclear power, protecting the world’s oceans, reducing the human and economic costs of mental illness, and the controversy over visa programs that allow highly skilled immigrants into the United States also feature in the list, made public by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
“Voters should have a chance to know where the presidential candidates stand,” said Rush Holt, chief executive officer of AAAS, which publishes the journal Science. “We want journalists and voters to ask these questions insistently of the candidates and their campaign staff.”
The 56 groups that helped create the list by crowd sourcing the questions has asked for the candidates to answer the questions by September 6. All are described by AAAS as non-partisan groups, including the National Academy of Sciences, the American Geophysical Union, the American Chemical Society and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Next Story
