September 26, 2018 09:10 AM UTC

Laughter is (Not) a Yuge Sign of Respect

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Maybe Trump is a reader of Colorado Pols? From CNN:

President Trump claims that world leaders were “laughing with” him, not at him, during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

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President Trump addressed members of the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, and as you may have heard, it did not go well.

As the Washington Post explains, Trump suffered the fate he fears most: World leaders were quite literally laughing at him.

Delivering a speech that aimed to establish U.S. “sovereignty” over the whims and needs of other nations, the president’s triumphant moment was marred in the first minute when he was met by laughter — at his expense.

The embarrassing exchange came when Trump boasted that his administration had accomplished more over two years than “almost any administration” in American history, eliciting audible guffaws in the cavernous chamber hall.

The president appeared startled. “Didn’t expect that reaction,” he said, “but that’s okay.”

Members of the audience chuckled again — perhaps this time in sympathy.

[mantra-pullquote align=”right” textalign=”left” width=”60%”]“It’s the first time I’m aware of that people actually laughed at a president. I think it is going to drive him absolutely crazy. It will play to every insecurity he has.”

— Thomas Wright, Brookings Institution[/mantra-pullquote]

The only thing sadder than world leaders laughing at the President of the United States is when Trump supporters try to pretend that it was actually “respectful” laughter. As The Hill reports, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley appeared on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday morning to say this:

“When he said that, they love how honest he is,” she said. “It’s not diplomatic, and they find it funny. I mean, when he goes and he is very truthful, they kind of were taken back by it.

“Whether he said good things about him or not, they love that he’s honest with them,” she added. “And they’ve never seen anything like it, so there’s a respect there. I saw that the media was trying to make it something disrespectful, that’s not what it was. They love to be with him.”

Remember when your mother would tell you that people were laughing with you and not at you? Even as a kid you knew that she was just saying that to make you feel better.