The Daly Weekly (5/16)

Trump and the Qatar plane, Biden's cognitive scandal, and more!

Hi everyone.

Welcome to this week’s Daly Weekly, where I answer whatever questions you throw at me.

Let’s get right to it…

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The plane gift was a mistake. But would it make a difference if Qatar followed the same process as France giving the US the Statue of Liberty? — Samuel S.

I keep seeing this Statue of Liberty comparison brought up, mostly by people trying to rationalize what Trump has done with the Qatar plane. I realize that’s not what you’re doing, Samuel, but here’s my take…

Accepting a statue as a national gift in the celebration of freedom is a universe apart from a president personally taking a $400 million luxury 747 jet from a country that is 1) a state sponsor of terrorism, and 2) doing business with his family. I can’t even fathom how Qatar’s “gift” could be bent into something resembling what France did all those years ago. It’s clearly a bribe, and it’s clearly corrupt. All Trump had to say was, “Thanks, but no thanks.” But he loves to be flattered and celebrated, so here we are.

John, how do you compare Watergate to the alleged coverup of Biden’s cognitive health? As more information comes out, this seems real serious. Should there be Congressional hearings to investigate this? — Rob O.

Hi Rob. I never feel comfortable comparing any scandal to Watergate, because it was before my time, and I haven’t studied it as closely as a lot of people have. I guess one notable difference is that I don’t think what Biden’s handlers did to insulate him, and deceive the American public, was illegal. But I do think, on its own merits, that the Biden scandal is huge. It went well beyond misleading others. Our president was basically incapacitated, at least for part of his term. Imagine if our country had experienced a 9/11-like attack during that time, or a nuclear attack. Who would have been calling the shots at the White House? Heck, who was calling the shots? I’m all for Congress investigating this, and finding some answers.

Here’s a wacky question. If you could replace Trump with the leader of a different nation, who would it be? — Alex D.

I assume you mean a current leader, so I’ll go with Javier Milei of Argentina. The guy has the right approach on all kinds of things, including free markets and limited government.

The left has moved from celebrating the accomplishments of actual black women of substance to erecting a large statue in New York's Times Square of a generic, overweight, angry black woman with her hands on her hips and attitude in her posture. This is what the progressive left has devolved into. Do they deserve all of the cultural relevance they are losing? — Steve R.

I hadn’t heard anything about this story, Steve, and after looking it up just now, I’m not sure I understand the controversy. I see statues all the time of generic individuals of various ethnicities. I just view them as art. But I do agree with your broader point about cultural relevance. The progressive left has made a mess of lots of things. As I’ve written before, I think “wokeness” peaked about halfway through Biden’s term, and has been in steady decline since. I think that’s largely a good thing.

Sir John: I would like your opinion on Trump’s recent speech in Saudi Arabia as well as him snuggling up to the terrorist thug who now runs Syria. I can see how the current Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman may be friendly to and sharing of western interests, but Ahmed Al-Sharaa of Syria !? Seriously !? Are there ANY American leaders of any political party that can sense the potential dangers here?
“Middle Eastern Bedfellows” regards from The Emperor

I didn’t hear the Saudi Arabia speech, Emperor. To tell you the truth, there was a death in my family last week, so I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the news cycle. But Trump’s history of “snuggling up” with brutal, murderous foreign-leaders is pretty well documented. This is nothing new.

I really enjoyed your interview with the Showdog Studio guys. How did you line that one up? — Ben G.

A friend of a friend put us in touch. I enjoyed it as well. They’re nice guys who’ve done some amazing things in life.

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Thanks everyone! You can send me questions for next week by leaving a comment in the comment section.