On Wednesday afternoon, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called Donald Trump to talk about working together in the future. The Pakistani government then released what’s called a “readout,” which is usually a fairly boring summary of a call between world leaders.
The Pakistani government released a readout of its call with Trump. It’s magical.
Zack Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he covers ideology and challenges to democracy, both at home and abroad. His book on democracy, The Reactionary Spirit, was published 0n July 16. You can purchase it here.
Only this one … well, it’s not boring. It reads more like a transcript of actual things Trump said to Sharif, and those things are amazing. Here’s the readout in full:
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif called President-elect USA Donald Trump and felicitated him on his victory. President Trump said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif you have a very good reputation. You are a terrific guy. You are doing amazing work which is visible in every way. I am looking forward to see you soon. As I am talking to you Prime Minister, I feel I am talking to a person I have known for long. Your country is amazing with tremendous opportunities. Pakistanis are one of the most intelligent people. I am ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play to address and find solutions to the outstanding problems. It will be an honor and I will personally do it. Feel free to call me any time even before 20th January that is before I assume my office.
On being invited to visit Pakistan by the Prime Minister, Mr. Trump said that he would love to come to a fantastic country, fantastic place of fantastic people. Please convey to the Pakistani people that they are amazing and all Pakistanis I have known are exceptional people, said Mr. Donald Trump.
Obviously, these could just be paraphrases, but the quotes just sound so much like Trump.
It’s hard to imagine some Pakistani bureaucrat making up Trumpy lines like “Pakistanis are one of the most intelligent people” — which, come to think of it, begs the question of who the least intelligent people are. Also, it’s worth noting that these “most intelligent people” would be blocked from entering the United States under Trump’s “Muslim ban.”
We’ve reached out to the Trump team and the Pakistani government to confirm whether these are actual quotes or just truly inspired paraphrasing.
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