Telegraph: Donald Trump is Worse Than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

The offensive behavior of the frontrunner in the Republican primary election for the U.S. presidency toward his rivals is personally more insulting than anything Iran’s populist and former president was accused of, and it reveals the nature of his poor conduct in the presidential office.

Watching Donald Trump over the past few months reminded me of a demagogue who stirs up the masses—someone whose activities I have followed for a long time.

My reference is not to Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini—though my career as a journalist has been lengthy, it does not extend that far back—but rather to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the volatile and provocative former president of Iran in recent years, who, like the Republican frontrunner in the American elections, mixes media-friendly statements with a deep ignorance of world affairs in a toxic concoction.

Nevertheless, after watching the Republican television debate Thursday night in Detroit, Michigan, I concluded that Trump has even surpassed Ahmadinejad—as repugnant as his Holocaust denial and endless threats against Israel were.

The billionaire star of television shows’ act of demeaning Marco Rubio as “this little guy” and “little Marco” was a scandal indicating a lack of class and disrespect for human dignity.

Ahmadinejad behaved shamelessly and contemptuously in a live television debate with his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi during the 1388 [2009] elections. Nevertheless, he did not lower himself to the level of insulting his opponent’s physical appearance.

Donald Trump’s vulgar and frivolous behavior has degraded the American political process, and one must ask: when Americans support him, do they—as Mitt Romney suggested—deserve to be considered deceived? If Marco Rubio is “a little guy,” then what, in Donald Trump’s arrogant view, are the millions of Americans whose frustration with economic conditions has fueled the current election campaign based on public anger?

Donald Trump says he despises the word “politician,” but these politicians are certainly no worse than him—at least they are not worse than he is.

Let us not forget that Ahmadinejad stole the 1388 election through widespread fraud, and Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi, rival candidates, remain under house arrest.

Beware of talkative despots who claim their gift to the people is morality.

But that was Iran and this is America—the hope of the free world. America’s allies are watching the signs and are increasingly dissatisfied that Trump is not being held accountable for his extreme political schemes and recklessness.

America! The world is watching your performance, and it is waiting.