Stephen Moore, a former economic adviser to Donald Trump, defended the President-elect’s recent call with the president of Taiwan, saying in a local radio interview that he didn’t care if it upset China.
“Taiwan is our ally,” Moore said in a radio interview Monday on the Big John and Ray Show on WLS AM890. “That is a country that we have backed because they believe in freedom. We oughta back our ally, and if China doesn’t like it, screw ’em.”
Reince Priebus, Trump’s pick to be his chief of staff, said Monday that Moore is not an adviser for Trump’s transition, though Moore was listed as an adviser for Trump’s presidential campaign.
Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade province and it has been the official position of the United States since 1979 that the government in Beijing is the sole government of China. Trump’s phone call Friday with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan led to criticism from the American foreign policy establishment. Beijing lodged a complaint with the State Department.
“We gotta stand by Taiwan, we see what’s happening in China the way they’re sabre rattling out there in the East, it’s about time we do what Reagan did, we stand up to these bullies, we say we’re not gonna let you do this, and we’re gonna stand with our allies,” Moore said.
“I love the fact that Trump did that. Too many mamby-pamby people in the foreign policy shop are saying ‘oh my gosh we can’t do this, we might insult the Chinese.’ I don’t care if we insult the Chinese!”
UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect that Moore is not an adviser on the transition.
