Political commenator says US is the ‘bad guy on world stage,' should face international sanctions
'Our country needs to be sanctioned. We are the bad guys on the world stage. We are a menace to not only free people everywhere, but we are a menace to peaceful people everywhere at this point, and I'm not even going to say that we've only been a menace for the past three or four months,' Mystal told Joy Reid.
Mystal cited President Donald Trump's airstrikes against Iran's nuclear program facilities in June, claiming the U.S. 'should be sanctioned and rebuked' for such 'illegal unnecessary bombings in Iran.'
'When does the international community decide that enough is enough? I know we're rich. I know we've got a lot of money. I know that people want to buy things from our country because we're rich or want to sell things to our country because we're rich, but at some point the international community has to stand up to us, because we are a bad guy on the world stage, right, and so we should be sanctioned,' he added.
6 Mystal cited President Donald Trump's airstrikes against Iran's nuclear program facilities in June.
The Joy Reid Show
6 US President Donald Trump speaks about Iran, Supreme Court, Tariffs and Tax Bill deadline.
Lenin Nolly/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Trump's strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities struck a blow to the rogue state's nuclear program.
Shortly after the strikes, Trump declared Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire after missile exchanges, claiming the '12-day war' would end.
Trump is also working on a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
Political commentator Elie Mystal told 'The Joy Reid Show' on Wednesday that the United States needs to be 'sanctioned' by other countries.
6 Illustration of US strikes in Iran, showing B-2 bombers dropping bombs on Fordow and submarines firing Tomahawk missiles.
Rob Jejenich / NY Post Design
6 B-2 Spirit stealth bomber releasing a GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb.
US Air Force
6 Satellite image of craters at the Fordo enrichment facility in Iran.
AP
Despite recent events in the Middle East, Mystal maintains that the United States needs to be treated like a 'rogue state.'
'We have to be stopped through the same kind of means that we have that our country and others have used to rebuke North Korea or China or name a rogue state,' he said. 'We are the rogue state and other countries need to start treating us like that.'
6 Despite recent events in the Middle East, Mystal maintains that the United States needs to be treated like a 'rogue state.'
AP
Mystal did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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My hope is that going forward, this will not be a tactic that the president continues to use, because the very people he is calling in to do different jobs may be put in harm's way.' Greenberg said in Louisville, by "working collaboratively with the community, we are seeing incredible progress in reducing violent crime in our city." "I think we're showing the country how you can reduce violent crime by working locally with your police department, in partnership with the community, in partnership with other government agencies, in partnership with nonprofit organizations that are all working together toward a unified goal," he said. Greenberg cited recent trends in local crime in his answer. 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The mayor made waves earlier this summer when he announced Louisville would revive an older Department of Corrections policy to hold inmates in the U.S. unlawfully for up to an additional 48 hours, complying with a request from the Trump administration. He drew criticism from the ACLU of Kentucky and a number of other local activists. In an article this week, a New York Times headline called Greenberg's move "a risky bet" by a Democratic mayor. In that instance, Greenberg said the city has a significant immigrant population who could be threatened in a federal crackdown, and the "stakes are too high" to push back against the request. Days later, the U.S. Department of Justice removed Louisville from its "sanctuary jurisdictions" list. "We do not want to see highly coordinated and often violent federal enforcement action here, especially in workplaces, residential areas, schools, places of worship, parks and other areas where law-abiding people gather," Greenberg said on July 22. "We do not want the National Guard occupying the streets of Louisville. I will not risk the safety of our broader immigrant community." At an Aug. 19 groundbreaking for the planned 36-unit Roosevelt Senior Apartments complex in Louisville's Portland neighborhood, U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey dismissed the question of how he'd react to a federal National Guard deployment locally as a "hypothetical," though he said Trump is "politicizing" safety in the capital with his recent actions. "He's not trying to solve problems. I think he's trying to create them," McGarvey, a Louisville Democrat set to return to the nation's capital in coming weeks, said. U.S. Rep. James Comer, a Republican counterpart of McGarvey who represents much of Western Kentucky, said he hopes moves concerning the National Guard in D.C. aren't replicated here. And Louisville is a "different deal," he added last week at a law enforcement roundtable in Shepherdsville, alongside Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman. "I think we've got a great Metro Council and I think we've got a mayor that's serious about cracking down on crime," Comer, who's considering a 2027 gubernatorial run, told reporters. "... You have such a liberal metro D.C. Council there, and you have prosecutors and judges that are just so lenient. They've taken criminal justice reform so far to the extreme that the criminals, they're never held accountable.' Coleman, meanwhile, celebrated late last week after the Kentucky Court of Appeals blocked a lower court from striking down provisions in the 2024 General Assembly's Republican-backed House Bill 5, dubbed the "Safer Kentucky Act" by supporters, which stiffened penalties for convictions over many violent crimes. The bill's constitutionality is being challenged in Franklin Circuit Court. Coleman said about 175 people convicted of violent crimes that took place before the law's effective date who had not yet been sentenced could have been eligible for early release. "Our Office will continue to defend the Safer Kentucky Act and its benefits for our Commonwealth," the attorney general said in a news release. Reporters Caroline Neal and Hannah Pinski contributed. Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@ This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Why Craig Greenberg would strongly oppose National Guard in Louisville
