The ‘interchangeability’ of Trump and Duterte

In a recent opinion piece, “Why a Trump impeachment should terrify you” (The New York Times, 9/25/19), Frank Bruni wrote the following that made me think the names Trump and Duterte could easily be interchangeable:

“From the moment that Trump stepped into the office of the presidency, he has degraded it — with words that a president has no business speaking (or tweeting); with ceaseless lies; with infantile and often unhinged behavior; with raging conflicts of interest; with managerial ineptitude; with a rapacious ego that’s never sated; and with foreign dealings that compromise America’s values, independence and interests.”

Bruni also mentions Trump’s tweets, but in the case of Mr. Duterte (who would confuse a tweet with a birdcall), the trusty Salvador Panelo plays that role to the hilt.

CELESTE T. CRUZ
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