The US has become an "object of pity" around the world, President Donald Trump's former top Russia advisor Fiona Hill says.
During a CNN interview on Tuesday, Hill explained why she thinks the country's once-supreme reputation has taken a hit in recent years. Asked whether the US is still seen as a "model" for other nations and foreign leaders, she replied, "Unless we get our domestic act together, no."
Hill, who was a key witness in the Trump impeachment hearings last year, said US allies increasingly feel sorry for the nation amid domestic turmoil like race riots and political partisanship.
The former Trump advisor explained that it's the “bungled handling of Covid, on top of race relations, on top of our political polarization and the spectacles that we're presenting to the outside world” that is "really pushing all of this."
She added, "We are increasingly seen as an object of pity including by our allies because they are so shocked about what's happening internally, how we're eating ourselves alive with our divisions. We're the ones who are creating all this. It's not the Russians or the Chinese or anyone else. We are doing this to ourselves."
Hill said she believes those sentiments can be traced all the way back to 9/11, when the US received a groundswell of support from the rest of the world. But when President George W. Bush decided to invade Iraq, she claims, many of the country's allies perceived the US as "unmoored" and "lashing out," and its status as a world leader subsequently diminished.
Hill's comments come after a recent Pew Research Center survey among 13 nations found the US’s reputation has declined among its allies this year. Part of that slump is attributed to its response to the coronavirus pandemic. The US has recorded more confirmed cases and more deaths from Covid-19 than any other country, with more than 6.9 million cases and more than 200,000 deaths as of Tuesday.
