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President Trump has been trying to portray Joe Biden as soft on China and himself as the tough guy willing to stand up and confront President Xi Jinping. That’s absurd: Trump has been fawning over Xi, and I’ve been gasping as I read John Bolton’s new book and its revelations of the Trumpian embrace of Xi.
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So my column is about Trump’s relationship with Xi as a perfect symbol of our president’s soaring hypocrisy wrapped in venal incompetence. Ordinary Chinese mock Trump by giving him the Chinese name 川建国, or Chuan Jianguo, meaning Build-the-Country Trump. They are slyly suggesting that Trump is helping make a country great again — just not his own. Here’s the column!
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How Salary History Perpetuates Discrimination
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I’ve argued that opposing racism has to be deeper than denouncing police knees on African-American necks, and that whites also need to address structural inequities in education, housing and business. One example is the way the private sector routinely asks about salary history in hiring decisions.
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This isn’t meant to be harmful, but it has the consequence of replicating past racial and gender discrimination. A new study finds that bans on questions about salary history lead to 8 percent pay increases for women and 13 percent pay increases for blacks.
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I Have the Best Readers Ever
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In April I used my column to announce an effort to raise funds for five great organizations working to respond to the coronavirus, and my readers have now donated a total of $5.8 million to the effort. Here’s how the 10,200 donors have allocated the money: $1.67 million to Catalyst Kitchens, which provides meals for the hungry in the United States; $1.38 million to the Center for American Indian Health at Johns Hopkins University, which supports the virus response in Native American communities in the United States; $1.1 million for Water for People, which installs water systems to schools and clinics abroad so people can wash their hands; $826,000 to the International Rescue Committee, supporting displaced people around the world; and $788,000 to Save the Children, helping out-of-school kids here in the United States. Donors will get an email soon explaining how the funds are being used. And if you haven’t donated yet, you still can at: KristofC19ImpactInitiative.org
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Signed Copies of Tightrope
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Since the pandemic abruptly ended our book tour, readers have occasionally asked how they can get signed copies of our latest book, “Tightrope.” We now have a way. If you order copies through Bronx River Books, they’ll send you a signed or personalized copy (we will drop by their store to personalize). You can contact them at info@BronxRiverBooks.com.
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And thank you for nice comments about “Tightrope” that have been coming in to this email address. One of my favorites: “My Marine, conservative Republican husband could not put it down and had some nice shift in perspective.” That’s exactly why we wrote it!
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Perfect Hypocrisy Wrapped in Venal Incompetence
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China policy captures just how hypocritical and inept Trump foreign policy has been. I have complicated views about China: I’m a believer in engaging China on trade, cooperating with it on climate change and pandemics, standing up to it on human rights and security issues. But Trump has done the opposite, all in apparent hopes of winning Xi’s help with his re-election. If only Trump were as cold to Xi as he is to Melania!
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The Bolton book adds to the reasons to pound your head against the nearest wall. But don’t do that! Read my column instead!
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