Chris Uhlmann, political editor for the Australian Broadcast Corporation, didn't mince any words when reporting on President Donald Trump at the G-20 summit.
The newsman's two-minute broadcast centered entirely on the president's awkward performance at the international conference and what it meant for the United States as a world power. To Uhlmann, it means nothing good. And the clip, which the Australian outlet tweeted, has resonated soundly with a lot of people.
"We learned that Mr. Trump has pressed fast forward on the decline of the U.S. as a global leader," Uhlmann said. "He managed to diminish his nation and to confuse and alienate his allies."
Trump was the only world leader at the summit who did not agree to a statement declaring the Paris Agreement on climate change to be "irreversible." Trump on June 1 announced he was pulling the U.S. out of the accord that aims to combat global warming.
Trump also was part of the target of violent protests at the G-20 gathering in Hamburg, Germany ― demonstrations that at one point isolated First Lady Melania Trump to her hotel.
Uhlmann also highlighted the political discord and divide Trump has exacerbated in the United States and elsewhere. He claimed that Trump had identified the "illness" at the heart of the "Western democracies," but "has no cure for it and seems to just want to exploit it."
Referring to Trump's Twitter habit, Uhlmann described him as "a man who barks out bile in 140 characters, who wastes his precious days as president at war with the West's institutions — like the judiciary, independent government agencies and the free press."
The harsh words hit home for many Twitter users.
Uhlmann, a one-time seminarian, has been at the Australian network since 1998 and was appointed political editor in 2015. In 2008, he was awarded the Walkley Award for broadcast interviewing.