And also gives four top tips for legal success
Human rights barrister Amal Clooney has revealed that she’s not a big fan of controversial presidential contender Donald Trump, admitting that she is “perplexed” by his recent political success.
Speaking to BBC newsreader and Crimewatch co-presenter Matthew Amroliwala, the world famous barrister — who, along with her Oscar winning husband George Clooney, is a public supporter of Democratic party front-runner Hillary Clinton — made clear that she doesn’t agree with Trump’s political ideology.
His contentious and outspoken views and remarks about Muslims and women, she says, are not shared by the majority of the electorate. “I don’t think they’re US values”, she explained.
The barrister — herself the daughter of Muslim parents — is hopeful, however, that Clinton will triumph in the upcoming US election results. This is perhaps because female voters will be turned off by Trump’s long history of making sexist comments. Highlights (or rather lowlights) include the property tycoon telling a female reporter that she wouldn’t have her job if she wasn’t beautiful, that pumping breast milk is “disgusting”, that he “could and would have slept” with Princess Diana, and that all the women that starred on his TV show The Apprentice flirted with him (an outcome he described as “to be expected”).
Clooney commented:
There’s an ad on the TV in the US where they went through all these statements he made against women and you watch that and you think ‘gosh’. He has a really high negative rating. I don’t think he’s going to get much of the women’s vote as a result of that.
She added:
If at the end of all of this he gets beaten by the person who becomes the first female president of the United States, then I think that would send a very positive message from the electorate back to him as to what they really think of [his] points of view.
A contest between Clinton and Trump for the presidency seems almost certain after the primary results yesterday, and women issues could be a determinative factor. Clinton responded to accusations by Trump that she was playing the women’s card by saying:
If fighting for women’s healthcare and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in.
Alongside political fundraisers, Clooney is currently keeping herself busy representing Khadija Ismayilova, an Azerbaijan journalist who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in September for embezzlement and tax evasion, at the European Court of Human Rights.
She has also found time to give a sold-out talk in Dallas, Texas — her first speaking engagement in the US. It was covered by American legal news site Above the Law, who reckoned that all law students and young lawyers could learn a thing or two from the Doughty Street Chambers celeb and picked out four of Clooney’s best snippets of advice for aspiring barristers:
1. If your non-profit or pro-bono work can make a difference to just one person, the work is worth it.
2. People who are passionate are good at what they do.
3. You don’t need to start your career with a long-term plan, it’s better to see where the work takes you.
4. No one is above the law.