Madeleine Albright: Trump Damaged National Security ‘Just By Running for President’

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright prepared the stage at the Democratic National Convention for her former boss, Bill Clinton, by painting a dystopian picture of the future of America under a President Donald Trump, arguing that Trump would not only harm the nation’s security as president, but that he somehow already had.

Albright, who served as American ambassador to the United Nations during the Rwandan genocide and Secretary of State during the 1998 Al Qaeda U.S. embassy bombings, argued that the Republican presidential nominee had “already done damage” to American foreign policy “just by running for president,” accusing him of “undermining our Muslim allies” in the war on terrorism and “encouraging more countries to get nuclear weapons.”

Albright also accused Trump of having “a strange admiration for dictators,” arguing that defeating Trump would be akin to defeating Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Putin is eager to see Trump win, and that should worry every American,” she told the audience, “Take it from someone who fled the Iron Curtain – I know what happens when you give the Russians a green light.”

Hillary Clinton, Albright argued, had instead “fought terrorism” and” stopped the spread of nuclear weapons.” Among other notable moments in Clinton’s career, according to Albright, the Democratic nominee once ate Czech cabbage “and she did not like it very much.”

The details of Clinton’s record as Secretary of State were notably absent from Albright’s speech. As the nation’s top diplomat, Clinton oversaw the transfer of half of America’s uranium output to Russia and presided over the Russian “reset” that has resulted in an emboldened Russian presence in the Middle East, Ukraine, and the skies of the Baltic states. Clinton also personally objected to designating Boko Haram, now the deadliest wing of the Islamic State, a terrorist group.

Clinton, Albright continued, “knows that safeguarding freedom and security is not like hosting a reality TV show – it is a complex, round-the-clock job that demands not only a steady hand and a cool head but also a big heart.”

“I have seen her fight and win for our country,” Albright told the crowd. “In this era, with these threats, we need a leader who has the experience and judgement to keep America strong secure and safe.”