This spiritual leader has little faith in Donald Trump.
The Dalai Lama told the BBC in an interview aired Thursday that the U.S. president has displayed a “lack of moral principle” during his first two-plus years in office.
‘But I think [there is a] lack of moral principle. When he became president, he expressed “America first.” That is wrong. America, they should take the global responsibility.’
The Dalai Lama referred to the migrant crisis and America’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord in his appraisal. “When I saw pictures of some of those young children [on the U.S.-Mexico border], I was sad,” he said.
What’s more, the exiled monk who serves as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists also questioned Trump’s emotional health. In the video, the Dalai Lama said, “His emotions [are] also a little bit… too complicated,” while twirling his index finger alongside his temple, similar to a cuckoo sign.
This interview isn’t the first time that the Dalai Lama has criticized Trump. In September 2016, before Trump was elected, the he did an unflattering impression of the real estate mogul turned Republican candidate while speaking with Piers Morgan on “Good Morning Britain.” He placed his hand over his head to imitate Trump’s distinctive hair, and then used his hand to make a flapping gesture by his mouth while remarking “his mouth… small.”
The Dalai Lama made other controversial remarks in the latest BBC interview, such as doubling down on remarks he first made in 2015 that only an “attractive” woman should replace him. “If [a] female Dalai Lama come, then she should be more attractive,” he said. He then made an unflattering face, saying that if a female Dalai Lama looked like that, “I think, [people would] prefer not [to] see her, [with] that face.”
What’s more, while he says the European Union should take in refugees, the long-term goal should be to return refugees to their home countries.
Related: Europe has ‘too many’ refugees, says refugee Dalai Lama
“But [for the] whole [of] Europe [to] eventually become [a] Muslim country? Impossible. Or [an] African country, also impossible,” he said, laughing. “Keep Europe for Europeans.”
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