John Kerry isn’t holding back in his criticism of Donald Trump.
On Friday, the former Secretary of State took aim at the president’s demeanor and temperament, saying Trump has the “insecurity of a teenage girl.” This came after Trump accused Kerry of holding “illegal meetings with the very hostile Iranian regime,” which Trump said was undercutting the work he was doing in Iran.
Donald Trump was joined in his criticism by the current Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who said Kerry’s meetings with key Iran figure Mohammad Javad Zarif in an effort to save the nuclear deal were “beyond inappropriate.”
“I wasn’t in the meeting, but I am reasonably confident that he was not there in support of U.S. policy with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Pompeo said (via NBC News ). “Actively undermining U.S. policy as a former secretary of state is literally unheard of.”
John Kerry didn’t take well to the criticism, especially from Donald Trump who he described in schoolyard terms. Kerry laid into Trump on Friday.
“I don’t want to get into a real riff on this, but I’ve got to tell you, he really is the rare combination of an eight-year-old boy — he’s got the maturity of an eight-year-old boy with the insecurity of a teenage girl. That’s just who he is,” Kerry said on Bill Maher’s Real Time (via Newsweek ).
John Kerry had been one of the chief critics of Donald Trump’s decision to walk away from the nuclear agreement with Iran. Critics including Kerry say Trump had little understanding of the agreement or what it required of Iran, but backed out only because it was seen as a major achievement of former President Barack Obama.
In an appearance last week, Kerry said there appeared to be no rationale for leaving the agreement, Politico noted.
“I think it’s a very dangerous and ill-advised move that is not based on any broad strategy,” said Kerry, who under Barack Obama was one of the chief negotiators of the deal that Trump scrapped.
President Donald #Trump and Secretary of State Mike #Pompeo lashed out at former Secretary of State John #Kerry for his meetings with #Iran ’s foreign minister after the Obama-appointee had left office https://t.co/WHFZIXuHI2
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) September 14, 2018
John Kerry had reportedly worked behind the scenes in an attempt to keep the deal in place before Trump announced in May that the United States was withdrawing. In responding to Trump’s accusations this week, Kerry has also made reference to the president’s latest legal trouble, saying Trump should be more worried about former campaign manager Paul Manafort’s decision to work with investigators in the Russia probe.
