Barbra Streisand calls Trump a ‘one-man weapon of mass destruction’ in scathing op-ed

Singer criticised US president for his handling of coronavirus and climate change

Barbra Streisand has penned a scathing op-ed about Donald Trump, calling him a “one-man weapon of mass destruction” and condemning him for his “breathtaking ignorance”.

The column, published in Variety on Super Tuesday as millions of Americans took to the polls, saw the performer take aim at Trump’s handling of coronavirus, climate change and Russian interference.

She opened the piece by riffing off Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” by declaring that the country “was great before” he took office 2016.

“Every morning I wake up, holding my breath while I turn on my phone to see the latest news,” she wrote. “I think to myself, ‘It can’t be worse than yesterday.’ But when the news loads, I think, ‘Ohhhhh, yes, it is worse.’”

She added: “Since 2016, we’ve been dragged down into the mud of Trump’s swamp. He has demolished our standing in the world with his laughable boasts and breathtaking ignorance.

“He has put the security of this country, and our planet, in a precarious position by abandoning the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal. He’s a one-man weapon of mass destruction … so reckless that he almost started a war.”

Attacking Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, Streisand noted that the president “got rid of our pandemic specialist two years ago and has defunded the Centers for Disease Control because he continues to ignore science”.

“We can’t go on like this,” she wrote. “It’s too dangerous.”

On Russian interference, she said: “Now he’s fired the director of national intelligence in an effort to suppress the truth about Russia interfering in our elections again. He’s purging the government of anyone with any expertise who doesn’t bow down before him.”

Streisand also blamed Trump for an increase in people who are “anxious and depressed” and argued the president “thinks the rules don’t apply to him” and that he created a culture of “paranoia, hypocrisy and lies” in the executive branch.

She said Trump should not receive credit for the strengths of his presidency, such as the perceived success of his economic policies. “Trump can never live up to Obama’s legacy, so he’s trying to erase it. He inherited a growing economy and now claims credit for it, saying it’s the best in history… but that’s another lie.”

Streisand urged voters to be active in the 2020 election to ensure that Trump will not win in November, writing: “In this upcoming election, we must bring back dignity and grace. We must care about the facts, the planet, each other and the least fortunate among us. We need a new America, without pollution, without obscenities, without insults, without revenge. We need to restore the nobility of truth… and only then will America be great again.”

Former US vice president Joe Biden triumphed on Super Tuesday, scoring crucial wins across the South, propelled by endorsements from his former opponents who left the race after his long-predicted big win in South Carolina.​ Bernie Sanders emerged with the night’s biggest prize, the delegate-heavy California.