Sayonara, all respect for the U.S.
You’ve already heard. But I deliberately avoided clicking the links on Thursday (New York Times gift link):
The prime minister of Japan was visiting the White House on Thursday when a reporter asked President Trump why he hadn’t alerted Japan and other allies ahead of the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran.
“Because we wanted surprise,” Trump replied. “Who knows better about surprise than Japan, OK? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK? Right?”
Late night had a field day:
Jimmy Kimmel said that Americans “often cringe when real leaders come to visit ours, but today I think we hit a new level of discomfort.”
“I guess we should be grateful he didn’t do an accent?” — JIMMY KIMMEL
“Do you mean the movie ‘Pearl Harbor?’ Because Japan didn’t do that — we did that to ourselves.” — SETH MEYERS
“Let me tell you: There’s no doubt in my mind that everything he knows about Pearl Harbor begins and ends with a movie starring Ben Affleck.” — JIMMY KIMMEL
“I haven’t seen an American bomb in front of Japan that badly since — you get the idea.” — JORDAN KLEPPER
“During the same press conference, President Trump praised the Japanese prime minister’s understanding of English and added, ‘I haven’t picked up your language.’ Oh, nobody thought you had picked up Japanese. You already have your hands full with English.” — SETH MEYERS
American Idiot was before its time.