Donald Trump made quite a bit of news this morning. At a press conference, the Republican nominee called for Russia to use its espionage services to obtain Hillary Clinton emails, apparently in the hopes that the Putin government would help Trump win the U.S. election.
And while that’s a career-ending moment for normal candidates in normal parties in normal election cycles, in Trump’s case, it wasn’t the only notable exchange from this morning’s event.
QUESTION: Do you think the Geneva Conventions are out of date?TRUMP: I think everything’s is out of date. We have a whole new world.
Pressed further, Trump added, “I am a person that believes in enhanced interrogation, yes. And by the way, it works.”
In reality, it doesn’t “work” at all, but Trump too often doesn’t seem to care about pesky details like facts and evidence. (When the Senate Intelligence Committee examined the Bush/Cheney administration’s “enhanced interrogation techniques,” investigators found torture was ineffective, illegal, brutal, and “provided extensive inaccurate information.” Trump, in other words, has no idea what he’s talking about.)
But let’s not brush past the news too quickly. As far as Trump is concerned, the Geneva Conventions are “out of date.” Asked about possible changes, the Republican told NBC News’ Katy Tur, “I would renegotiate so much of everything.”
Republicans, in particular, need to recognize that their presidential nominee is now hostile towards NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and now the Geneva Conventions.
He also, by the way, argued the other day that the European Union was created “to beat the United States,” which in no way reflects reality.
I initially was tempted to headline this piece, “Trump vs. the World,” but I quickly realized that wouldn’t be entirely accurate: Trump may be hostile towards Western institutions, but he’s still pals with Putin’s Russia.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."