US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's casual observation over the weekend that President Rodrigo Duterte's style of governance was similar to that of US President Donald Trump may have been a source of amusement—but the administration really shouldn't take it to heart.
As Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo tells it, Pompeo was at the Palace on a courtesy call to the President, who was sharing stories about the controversies he has stirred up since assuming office in 2016.
“I remember when the President was talking about what he is doing for this country, including his controversial policies and even the cursing, the secretary of state said, 'You’re just like our President.' We all laughed," Panelo recalls. “He [Pompeo] is very fond of the President.”
While it is true that both Trump and Duterte have made international headlines with their harsh rhetoric and unconventional styles of leadership, there are differences that the administration would do well to emphasize.
First, there is no evidence to suggest that Mr. Duterte is a racist. In contrast, from his continued refusal to denounce white supremacists and his description of Mexicans as criminals, Mr. Trump is clearly a bigot. The recent testimony of a man who had served as his personal lawyer and fixer for 10 years merely confirmed what we knew—Mr. Trump is a racist.
Second, despite the occasional embellishment or exaggeration, Mr. Duterte is nowhere near the prolific and compulsive liar that Donald Trump is. The Washington Post, which meticulously keeps track of Trump’s pronouncements, documents 9,014 lies that he has peddled since his inauguration in January 2017. The Post also observes that Trump is accelerating the pace of his lying, averaging 5.9 lies a day in his first year, 16.5 a day in his second, and 22 lies a day this year.
Third, Mr. Trump, who is obsessed with building a border wall to keep immigrants out, is clearly xenophobic, something Mr. Duterte clearly is not. In fact, some might argue he is too welcoming of foreigners, particularly those carrying Chinese passports.
Finally, Mr. Duterte has often demonstrated that he can empathize with the people he serves. The same cannot be said of Mr. Trump, who exhibits the sociopathic tendency of not caring about the pain he causes others. Instigating the longest government shutdown in US history earlier this year, Mr. Trump showed no empathy for the 800,000 federal workers who had to go on furlough or work without pay for 35 days.
We know that Secretary Pompeo thought his comparison of the President to Mr. Trump was a compliment—but we hope the Philippine officials gathered around him knew better.