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Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is under fire--with one journalist characterizing it as the behavior of a 'sociopath'--following crude remarks made Monday in which he described the U.S. bombing of Syria as "after-dinner entertainment" at President Donald Trump's private Mar-A-Lago estate while hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping last month.
"Just as dessert was being served, the president explained to Mr. Xi he had something he wanted to tell him, which was the launching of 59 missiles into Syria," Ross said Monday during a speech at the Milken Institute Conference in Beverly Hills, California. "It was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment. The thing was, it didn't cost the president anything to have that entertainment."
According to Variety, which first reported the comments, some members of the audience responded with laughter.
Made public, however, the comments by Ross attracted not smiles but widespread disgust and rebuke.
This short video by Carbonated TV captured additional responses of outrage:
Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, also condemned Ross' comment.
"Secretary Wilbur Ross needs to apologize," Lieu declared in a tweet Monday night. "US military is not a toy and should never be used for 'entertainment.'"
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is under fire--with one journalist characterizing it as the behavior of a 'sociopath'--following crude remarks made Monday in which he described the U.S. bombing of Syria as "after-dinner entertainment" at President Donald Trump's private Mar-A-Lago estate while hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping last month.
"Just as dessert was being served, the president explained to Mr. Xi he had something he wanted to tell him, which was the launching of 59 missiles into Syria," Ross said Monday during a speech at the Milken Institute Conference in Beverly Hills, California. "It was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment. The thing was, it didn't cost the president anything to have that entertainment."
According to Variety, which first reported the comments, some members of the audience responded with laughter.
Made public, however, the comments by Ross attracted not smiles but widespread disgust and rebuke.
This short video by Carbonated TV captured additional responses of outrage:
Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, also condemned Ross' comment.
"Secretary Wilbur Ross needs to apologize," Lieu declared in a tweet Monday night. "US military is not a toy and should never be used for 'entertainment.'"
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is under fire--with one journalist characterizing it as the behavior of a 'sociopath'--following crude remarks made Monday in which he described the U.S. bombing of Syria as "after-dinner entertainment" at President Donald Trump's private Mar-A-Lago estate while hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping last month.
"Just as dessert was being served, the president explained to Mr. Xi he had something he wanted to tell him, which was the launching of 59 missiles into Syria," Ross said Monday during a speech at the Milken Institute Conference in Beverly Hills, California. "It was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment. The thing was, it didn't cost the president anything to have that entertainment."
According to Variety, which first reported the comments, some members of the audience responded with laughter.
Made public, however, the comments by Ross attracted not smiles but widespread disgust and rebuke.
This short video by Carbonated TV captured additional responses of outrage:
Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, also condemned Ross' comment.
"Secretary Wilbur Ross needs to apologize," Lieu declared in a tweet Monday night. "US military is not a toy and should never be used for 'entertainment.'"