Former coordinator of the Left Bloc, Francisco Louçã, commented on Friday regarding remarks made by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Marcelo had stated that his American counterpart, Donald Trump, acted as a “Soviet asset.”
When asked about the possibility of the President’s words causing a diplomatic incident between Lisbon and Washington, Louçã stated to SIC Notícias: “I don’t think it will come to that. I think this is somewhat a summer non-story.”
It should be noted that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s comments made headlines abroad, across Ukrainian, American, Chinese, and Indian media.
“The expression that ‘Trump is a Soviet asset’ makes no sense because the Soviet Union ended over 20 years ago. The term asset refers to espionage novels, and therefore, seems inappropriate. That Trump has a strategic convergence with Putin… there is little doubt about that, isn’t there? From that point of view, the President is pointing out a fact of international politics,” he analyzed.
In addition to international analyses, presidential candidate Henrique Gouveia e Melo also commented on the matter. In the Algarve, he criticized the position taken, arguing that anyone in the role of President of the Republic should not “make personal comments” and that if he were in the position “he would not have made them.”
Confronted with Gouveia e Melo’s criticisms and the potential need for restraint in Marcelo’s words, Louçã remarked: “That people closest to ‘Trumpism,’ like André Ventura or Henrique Gouveia e Melo, feel offended and jump into the political arena to attack President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa… that is quite natural.”
Despite the assertiveness in his remarks, Louçã emphasized that he thought the situation did not deserve “great importance.”
“After the Sporting vs Porto match, this issue will vanish from the Portuguese political scene. It doesn’t hold much relevance,” he concluded, adding: “Perhaps more significant is that the Government seeks to assert its discomfort to the American embassy regarding the President’s stance.”
