Fareed Zakaria had a positive reaction to President Trump’s recent speech on Islam, even comparing it to a caliber reminiscent of former President Obama.
Fareed Zakaria had a positive reaction to President Trump’s recent speech on Islam, even comparing it to a caliber reminiscent of former President Obama's speeches.
The CNN host said about the speech on Monday, it “was very carefully done, it was nuanced. It was frankly the kind of speech President Obama could have given.”
Zakaria added that Trump “never used the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism'...He pointed out that 95 percent of the victims of Islamic terrorism are Muslims.”
He then said that the speech “had the kind of nuance and empathy that people look for because ultimately what you’re trying to do is convince these Muslim countries to, in some way, take on, battle, expel, as President Trump said, the scourge of Islamic terrorism.”
The president’s address, delivered to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, stated, “Our goal is a coalition of nations who share the aim of stamping out extremism and providing our children a hopeful future that does honor to God.”
Trump also said, in part, “this summit will mark the beginning of the end for those who practice terror and spread its vile creed…But this future can only be achieved through defeating terrorism and the ideology that drives it.”
He added that while various countries including the United States have been victimized by such terror-related attacks, “the deadliest toll has been exacted on the innocent people of Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern nations."
The president further noted, "They have borne the brunt of the killings and the worst of the destruction in this wave of fanatical violence.”
Despite Zakaria’s praise, he has been a critic of Trump in the past. Back in March, the CNN host commented, “the president is somewhat indifferent to things that are true or false.”
