Senior Conservative MP suggests Donald Trump is a ‘Manchurian Candidate’

A senior Conservative MP has suggested that Donald Trump’s diplomacy as it relates to Russia and Ukraine mirrors the plot of the novel The Manchurian Candidate.

First published in 1959, The Manchurian Candidate is a thriller about the son of a prominent US political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting collaborator in a Soviet/Chinese conspiracy.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, Sir Julian Lewis, former chair of the defence select committee, remarked that the plot of The Manchurian Candidate “appears more like a documentary on US politics than a work of fiction.”

The Tory MP asked of the defence secretary: “Has the government received any indication that its efforts militarily to support Ukraine would be actively opposed or blocked by the Trump administration?”

John Healey responded: “The prime minister has made clear that the security arrangements or guarantees in Ukraine in the context of a negotiated peace will need US support.

“I’ve made the same point strongly in my discussions with [US defence] secretary Hegseth.”

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