While some Democrats are using the White House’s announcement that the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was canceled as an opportunity to take shots at President Donald Trump, Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) is taking the high road.
On Thursday, Alabama’s junior U.S. Senator reacted to Trump’s statement saying it would be “inappropriate” to hold the meeting given the circumstances. Jones told Yellowhammer News the announcement was “disappointing,” but he insisted he was still optimistic about future possibilities.
“I think everyone up here, and I do mean everyone on both sides of the aisle, was very optimistic this summit was going to take place, and that it would be a success,” Jones said during a conference call. “We’ve seen a lot of progress in recent weeks that was encouraging. I had been complimenting Secretary of State Pompeo for his work in this area. And I’ve given the administration a lot of credit for moving in the right direction.”
“Unfortunately, I’ve also – and I think a lot of people on both sides of the aisle are cautiously optimistic because North Korea has a history, and the history has not been very good, and the history is they have not acted in good faith. Some of the rhetoric that we had seen suggested that was where we were headed. And so it’s disappointing that’s been canceled. I am not surprised given what has happened in the last couple of weeks.”
Jones said he was discouraged Vice President Mike Pence and National Security Adviser John Bolton invoked what they had called the “Libya model.” Experts have warned that that could be seen as a reference to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Gadhafi had agreed to abandon Libya’s nuclear program. However, years later Gadhafi was overthrown and killed by rebels.
“Having said that, I think there’s been a little bit of improper rhetoric on both sides at this point,” he continued. “I was very disappointed to hear some of the vice president’s comments and comparing the situation and asking people to remember about Libya. And John Bolton did the same thing. I just don’t think those are very helpful. When you’re trying to come to the peace table, and you’re trying to talk to people, trying to get something that is so important – not just to the people of Korea, but important to the world – that we try to get nuclear weapons out of the peninsula of Korea.
He went on to say he was optimistic about the prospects of diplomacy but hopes the United States can avoid going back where it was at the beginning of the Trump administration regarding North Korea.
“So, we’re disappointed, but with this, I’m assuming, and I think I’m correct, that this administration is taking a few steps back,” Jones said. “They’re not going to stop. They’re going to continue to look at this issue. Congress will continue to work with them and continue to look at it so that this situation will hopefully continue to be on a path forward and this doesn’t get us back to where we were a year or so ago when it was just a lot of name-calling and chest-bumping about who is strongest. I don’t think that’s the way to do it. I’m one for diplomacy, try to make diplomacy work, and I think we’ll get back there. I’m very hopeful we will. I’m a glass-half-full kind of guy. That’s the way I’m going to look at it.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and is the editor of Breitbart TV.
