Press Release
Published on September 22, 2020
NEW YORK CITY—In response to President Donald Trump’s speech at the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Human Rights First’s Senior Vice President for Policy Rob Berschinski issued the following statement:
“In his short, taped remarks aired at the UN today, President Donald Trump once again rejected working in partnership with other governments to solve the world’s most pressing crises, while advancing a highly selective perspective on his administration’s poor human rights record.
“In his speech, Trump lauded his administration’s record on women’s rights, while saying nothing about how he’s limited reproductive health options or separated women from their children at the U.S. southern border. He praised his administration’s diplomatic efforts to decriminalize homosexuality, while omitting reference to the conclusion of his Commission on Unalienable Rights, which rejected the rights of LGBTQ people. He made the farcical claim to a strong record on fighting to ensure the right to health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while he criticized China’s appalling human rights record, he undercut his own message by saying nothing about the brutal dictators with whom he admiringly shares ‘love letters.’
“In keeping with an approach to foreign affairs that has left America less respected and more isolated in terms of its closest democratic allies, Trump’s UNGA speech wasn’t so much an address to the world’s leaders as a half-hearted domestic political advertisement.”
