by 
Patrick Gruban
The Trump administration has bowed out of nominating a candidate to serve on the United Nations Committee on Racism. Some say it is a sign that the United States is continuing its path to distancing itself form international bodies and other human rights issues.
One official said that the US could have just missed the deadline to find a replacement for the Obama appointee to the position, Gay McDougall. But others argue that missing the deadline only serves to strengthen the critics notion that “the Americans just don’t care about these kinds of things anymore.”
But officials of the Trump government see it differently.
“Although the United States did not nominate a candidate this year for election to the committee, that in no way diminishes our global leadership on efforts to eliminate racial discrimination,” one official said.
People at the state department at first believed that the Trump administration would just re-nominate Gay McDougall for the position she already fills. But allowing the deadline to pass without nominating anyone sent a bad signal about the US’s concern for racism across the globe.
This separation from world affairs is nothing new for the Trump government. He decided to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord; pull out of the Iran nuclear deal; and he discarded the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. He also pulled the US out of the UN Human Rights Council, and also harshly condemned the International Criminal Court.
American candidates usually have no problem being accepting to the committee, and McDougall was no exception. She has about 9 months left on her current four-year term, and she is planning on staying on until the end. “I regret that I’m not able to continue, and that was not of my choosing,” she declared.
