Akie Abe, the first lady of Japan and wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has spoken English many times in public, fluently, with only the slightest accent.
However, last week at the G20 summit in Germany, when the opera performance ended, Trump says she was seated next to him for dinner and simply sat in silence, rather than endure the presidential chit chat.
It appears that She has pretended not to speak English, pulling off one of the greatest tricks in the history of dinner diplomacy. If this pretending thing is true that Abe must have plenty of reason for doing the same.
Donald Trump has a long record of disrespectful behavior toward women, most recently an aggressive handshake and lewd comment about the body of Brigitte Macron, the first lady of France was immensely highlighted in the media.
Evidence for this shockingly bold but simple gambit comes from the president himself, in an interview with New York Times. “So, I was seated next to the wife of Prime Minister Abe, who I think is a terrific guy, and she’s a terrific woman, but doesn’t speak English,” Trump told reporter Maggie Haberman.
Like, nothing, right? Like zero?” Haberman asked.
“Like, not ‘hello,’” said Trump.
This is shocking as well as hilarious because Abe has conversed in English earlier with Laureen Harper, had cocktails with Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, spoken to business leaders in New York, and to a Virginia elementary school audience with Michelle Obama.
Abe has even met Trump and Melania Trump a couple of times before, earlier this year at Andrews Air Force Base, followed by a weekend at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Watch this:
https://twitter.com/samthielman/status/887987198146097152
