MOSCOW ¨C When the strongman ruler of Belarus declared an implausible landslide victory in an election in August and had himself sworn in for a sixth term as president, the United States and other Western nations denounced what they said was brazen defiance of the voters¡¯ will.
President Alexander Lukashenko¡¯s victory, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month, was ¡°fraud.¡± Pompeo added, ¡°We¡¯ve opposed the fact that he¡¯s now inaugurated himself. We know what the people of Belarus want. They want something different.¡±
Just a month on, Pompeo¡¯s boss, President Donald Trump, is now borrowing from Lukashenko¡¯s playbook, joining a club of truculent leaders who, regardless of what voters decide, declare themselves the winners of elections.
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