The international community won't be voting in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but on Tuesday's AC360 Later CNN's Christiane Amanpour let viewers know that they disapprove of the "extreme wing of the Republican Party."
"Well, from an international perspective, I can tell you that there is a massive and mass scratching of heads as people out there look at what's going on in the United States," Amanpour declared before pointing to the shutdown and the threat of not raising the debt ceiling.
Amanpour continued to speak of international disgust with the GOP. "[W]here I come from across the Atlantic, people just dismiss the fact that the Republicans could win next time. Everybody is just talking about Hillary Clinton," she reported. She did add that Chris Christie could change that perception.
Of course, that international malaise with the GOP could just be a further expression of the world press cheering Obama's election in 2008. And there was still international applause for his re-election in 2012. In 2004, much of the Euopean media disapproved of Bush's re-election.
Below is a transcript of the segment, which aired on AC360 Later on November 6 at 10:08 p.m. EDT:
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN chief international correspondent: Well, from an international perspective, I can tell you that there is a massive and mass scratching of heads as people out there look at what's going on in the United States.
I don't think that they see this particular election as transformative because they're looking at midterms, they're looking at presidentials. They want to know who's going to win. But they keep thinking what is going on with the U.S. Republican Party? And remember that in Europe and around the world, even conservative parties are moderate compared to the Republican Party here. They would be more like Blue Dog Democrats.
(Crosstalk)
BORGER: Which Republican Party here?
AMANPOUR: Well, precisely. They look at the extreme wing of – what they call the extreme wing of the Republican Party, and they think that's beginning to dominate. They were incredibly nonplussed, as you know, by the shutdown, really worried in case they took it over the brink of the debt ceiling on a potential default. And people are trying to figure out what really is happening and is this now solidified in the U.S.?
(...)
AMANPOUR: And what about – where I come from across the Atlantic, people just dismiss the fact that the Republicans could win next time. Everybody is just talking about Hillary Clinton. So my question is, does this change that? Is Christie a real challenge to a Hillary Clinton?
BORGER: In his own state she was beating him as the poll showed. So I –
COOPER: You think he would beat her?
SULLIVAN: I think it would be a walkover if it was him versus Hillary Clinton.
BORGER: He could. He really could.
