Joe Biden is speaking from a position of strength with sanctions against Russia16/04/2021|2min
US Studies Centre CEO Simon Jackman says the sanctions President Joe Biden has placed against Russia are a “big contrast to the Trump administration”.
Mr Jackman said the Trump administration was often “tiptoeing around its relationship with the Russians” as was evident in the 2016 “interference work by the Russians” and President Biden is highlighting this.
“Biden [is] not shying away from it at all and indeed speaking from a position of strength, ‘I could have done more but I didn’t’, reminding the world and Russia in particular that the US has plenty of capability and a wide variety of tools,” he told Sky News.
Afghanistan War gave 20 years of pacification to the Taliban 16/04/2021|4min
The Afghanistan War provided “20 years of pacification” which denied the Taliban the ability to deliver harm, according to US Studies Centre CEO Simon Jackman.
Mr Jackman said it was better for troops to be “fighting far away” from home and said it was important for families of soldiers for the public to “say job well done”.
“It was a mantra we first heard during the George W Bush administration, ‘better to be fighting far away from the American homeland than in the American homeland’ and there has not been a major terrorist attack on the scale of 9/11 since,” he told Sky News.
Tremendous appetite by far left Democrats to add four justices to Supreme Court16/04/2021|3min
The potential for the Democrats to add four justices to the US Supreme Court is stemming from a “tremendous appetite” from the left of the party to control all branches of government, according to US Studies Centre CEO Simon Jackman.
“Congress, coequal branch of government, incredibly important and so delicately poised at the moment [with] the deft and constant political management that Speaker Pelosi has to engage in,” he told Sky News.
Mr Jackman said the “left flank” of Congress believe Democrats could have total political control with the addition of the justices but the centrists who are “staring at dire re-election prospects” are not in favour of the proposal.
US Studies Centre CEO Simon Jackman says former president Donald Trump’s hints at running for re-election in 2024 are “not surprising” but mainly for the Trump brand.
“He’s going to tease like that all the way through, the brand is so important to Trump and that’s the source of a lot of income to Trump as well, irrespective of what his political ambitions are,” he told Sky News.
Mr Jackman said keeping the idea of running for re-election is “very important to the Trump business model” but it is not yet clear if he is serious.
“I’m not surprised he’s giving those interviews, I’m still sceptical come 2024 he will be the nominee as we get into November.”
There could be “more coronavirus than they’re seeing” in the United States as testing has dropped amid the vaccine rollout, says US Studies Centre CEO Simon Jackman.
Mr Jackman said the focus on the amount of vaccinations administered and how this is a “very good news story” was distracting from the number of tests given and impacting infection statistics.
“Have they taken the foot off on testing and actually perhaps more coronavirus out there than they’re seeing and indeed if you look closely there is a slight uptick,” he told Sky News.