‘A Strokefest!’ CNN Panelist Torches Trump, Says He’s Getting Played by China

Progressive pundit Leigh McGowan offered a colorful assessment of President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, declaring their meetings are little more than “a strokefest!”

Trump met Xi on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday — the first time a U.S. president has done so for a world leader, minus the pope, since 1962. Uniformed U.S. military personnel unfurled a literal red carpet for his arrival, at times getting on their hands and knees to make further adjustments.

McGowan’s comments came on Thursday’s edition of CNN NewsNight, just hours after Trump hosted a state dinner in Xi’s honor. Attendees included Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, and other tech tycoons.

Another panelist, conservative strategist Tim Parrish, was defending Trump as “one of the toughest, most resilient negotiators,” which drew sharp pushback from host Abby Phillip.

“Then why’d he back down on trade?” she pressed.

Former Trump White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, also a panelist, chimed in, “There’s no evidence that suggests that he’s actually a tough negotiator.”

“Tim, the question is, where is the deal?” Phillip stressed. “Where is the deal with China? Where is the deal with Iran?”

Finally, it was McGowan’s time to shine, as she added, “They are in the middle of a strokefest! The president is an easy mark, and China knows it, and you can see it.”

Trump said Thursday about the Chinese leader’s three-day visit so far, “From the time of my first election in 2016, President Xi and I have forged a friendship, a truly great friendship, actually, built on mutual respect and the vital interests of our people.”

Just yesterday, Bloomberg reported, though, that the Chinese government had taken potentially sensitive F-35 parts that were mistakenly diverted to Hong Kong while being shipped from Australia to the United States — and had yet to return them.

Watch above on CNN.

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