Belarus leader Lukashenko: A woman still can’t be president of U.S.

A woman still cannot become president of the United States, not even a candidate as “professional” as Hillary Clinton, given that U.S. society is not prepared for that, said the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, on Sunday.

“It seems to me that the U.S. society is not yet ready to elect a woman, even such a professional as Mrs. Clinton. I believe that it will be (a long time) before another (person as) highlyexperienced as Mrs. Clinton gets nominated for the presidential post,” he said at a news conference, as quoted by the official news agency BELTA.

Lukashenko said that “Mrs. Clinton is a true professional but the society in the United States is still not ready to elect a female president for (a) country with such ... huge military power,” asking rhetorically “Can a woman control such a big military, secret services, CIA and so on? It is still an open question.”

“Certainly, I know the stance of former President Bush, who said that society is prepared to elect a black, but not a woman. That was almost 10 years ago. I share that point of view,” said the leader considered by many to be Europe’s last dictator, presumably referring to former President George W. Bush.

He emphasized that in Belarus “there are many talented women but our society is not ready to elect a woman as president.”

“If we were to have a figurehead president who only welcomes and accompanies (visitors), then we would find a beautiful woman and we’d elect her,” he said.

He added that “that’s how our society is. In the same way, the U.S. is also not prepared” to elect a female president.

Therefore, he said he felt Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would win the November presidential elections after asserting that Clinton had been ahead in the polls by 9 percent two months ago and now Trump is leading by 34 percent in the voter surveys.

“For many reasons, both internal and external, if he maintains (his advantage), Donald Trump will win. This is purely my opinion,” Lukashenko said.

The Belarussian leader, who made his remarks on the occasion of the parliamentary elections in Belarus, is wellknown for his authoritarian tendencies, his tart criticism of the West, his friendship with late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and his admiration for the former Soviet Union and Soviet leader Josef Stalin, who died in 1953.