Waltz Calls UN Mishaps During Trump Speech ‘Unacceptable,’ Vows Funding Freeze Until Reforms
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz blasted the series of mishaps that occurred during President Donald Trump’s address at the U.N., calling them “unacceptable” and pledging to hold back American funding until major reforms are implemented.
Waltz joined FOX Business’ “Kudlow,” where host Larry Kudlow asked him about the glitches that some viewed as attempts to undermine the president during his appearance.
Kudlow pointed out that the escalator malfunctioned as Trump and First Lady Melania Trump entered, then the teleprompter went down mid-speech, and finally the auditorium’s sound system cut out.
Waltz noted another disruption, saying the broadcast audio suddenly shifted into Portuguese during Trump’s remarks before it switched back to English.
“The whole thing is unacceptable. The whole thing stinks,” Waltz said. “There’s 150 world leaders there and this only happens to him, not once, not twice, but three times.”
According to Waltz, the U.S. Secret Service is investigating the incidents, and the U.N. Secretary General has promised full cooperation.
“As the ambassador, I said, you’ve got to open your doors, and some people were kind of shoulder shrugging at this,” Waltz explained. “This could have been incredibly serious. It’s insulting, and it’s right here on American soil.”
Waltz went on to slam the U.N.’s size and inefficiency, pointing out that seven separate agencies are dedicated solely to climate issues. He said the institution must be drastically overhauled before it receives further U.S. contributions.
He confirmed that America has already withheld its payment to the organization this year.
“We’ve withheld this year,” Waltz said. “We haven’t paid any and my first meeting with the Secretary General was, here are the reforms that we need to see before you start talking about taxpayer dollars.”
Waltz compared the current standoff to Sen. Jesse Helms’ 1999 campaign to force the U.N. to reform before unlocking U.S. funds, stressing that the same principles still apply.
“We have every obligation to make sure it’s transparent,” he said.
{Matzav.com}