Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures during a speech at a rally in Oklahoma City. AP File Photo
BRUSSELS鈥擣ollowing Donald Trump鈥檚 breathtaking string of Super Tuesday victories, politicians, editorial writers and ordinary people worldwide were coming to grips on Wednesday with the growing possibility the brash New York billionaire might become America鈥檚 next President鈥攁 thought that aroused widespread befuddlement and a good deal of horror.
鈥淭he Trump candidacy has opened the door to madness: for the unthinkable to happen, a bad joke to become reality,鈥� German business daily Handelsblatt wrote in a commentary for its Thursday edition. 鈥淲hat looked grotesque must now be discussed seriously.鈥�
There was glee from some commentators at how American politics is being turned topsy-turvy in 2016, but the dominant reaction overseas to the effective collapse of the Republican Party establishment in the face of the Trump Train appeared to be jaw-dropping astonishment, mixed with dread at what may lie ahead.
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Dumbfounded
鈥淭he meteoric rise of the New York magnate has left half the planet dumbfounded,鈥� columnist Andrea Rizzi wrote in Spain鈥檚 leading newspaper, El Pais.
鈥淭o consider Donald Trump a political clown would be a severe misconception,鈥� said another European daily, Salzburger Nachrichten.
If Trump is elected to the White House, the Austrian paper predicted, his ideas 鈥渨ould bring major dangers for the USA and the world 鈥� basically a nationalist-chauvinist policy that would make America not great but ugly, and risk the stability of the international order,鈥� the newspaper said.
Trump has drawn concern in China, but not a huge amount of attention despite Trump repeatedly invoking the Asian giant during his campaign to cite US weakness that he would turn around, accusing Beijing of manipulating its currency, stealing American jobs and unfair competition.
鈥淚f, hypothetically, Trump became the US President and he held on to his stance and proposals made during the election, China-US relations would be in big trouble in many aspects such as security and economics,鈥� said Xiong Zhiyong, international relations expert at China Foreign Affairs University.
鈥淚n that case, US foreign relations policies will undergo a huge change,鈥� Xiong warned.
鈥楥补迟补蝉迟谤辞辫丑颈肠鈥�
Thuraya Ebrahim al Arrayed, a member of Saudi Arabia鈥檚 top advisory body, the Shura Council, said a Trump presidency would be 鈥渃atastrophic鈥� and set the world back 鈥渘ot just generations, but centuries.鈥�
鈥淲e pray to God that a racist, politically incorrect personality does not win the election,鈥� she said.听 鈥淗ow can he tell Muslim students going there to study that he will shut the door in Muslim faces?鈥�
Writing in the Financial Times of London, Martin Wolf summed up the mood of a good share of Europe鈥檚 business and economic elite, arguing that it would be a 鈥済lobal disaster鈥� if Trump, who won seven states in Tuesday鈥檚 Republican contests, made it all the way to the Oval Office.
鈥淢r. Trump is a promoter of paranoid fantasies, a xenophobe and an ignoramus. His business consists of the erection of ugly monuments to his own vanity. He has no experience of political office. Some compare him to Latin American populists,鈥� Wolf wrote.
A Japanese online commentator used much the same language, and likened the Republican front-runner to the evil nemesis of wizard Harry Potter.
鈥楤rown panic鈥�
Trump鈥檚 unexpected political rise reflects 鈥渆litism and opposition to globalization, but at its heart is a xenophobia and populism that comes from ignorance,鈥� said Masato Kimura, former London bureau chief for the conservative newspaper Sankei Shimbun.
鈥淎lthough this is another country鈥檚 election, Japan鈥檚 allies should raise their voices to help prevent the birth of a 鈥榁oldemort鈥� President in the United States,鈥� Kimura added.
In the Mexican newspaper Reforma, columnist Sergio Aguayo compared anti-Mexican sentiments unleashed by Trump to the anticommunist Red Scares of the 20th century, and accused Trump of igniting a 鈥渂rown panic.鈥�
鈥淲e must answer again and again Donald Trump, and make the US government understand that we鈥檙e not willing to continue being pointed out as the only ones responsible for problems that are also caused by the United States,鈥� Aguayo wrote.
La Jornada, a leftist Mexican newpaper, ran a caricature of Trump wearing a 鈥淜KK鈥� necktie and declaring, 鈥淚 will make cremation ovens for the Mexicans and Muslims 鈥� and they will pay for their construction!鈥�
A few praises
In Europe, where some also feel their nations are being submerged by waves of foreign migrants and violent Islamic radicalism is a real danger, not all have condemned Trump.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of France鈥檚 far-right National Front, has said that if he were an American, he would cast his ballot for Trump.
On Wednesday, Laurent Wauquiez, a French conservative lawmaker, said Trump鈥檚 popularity was revealing of a general trend that had traversed the Atlantic.
鈥淲hat it shows is that in democracies today, citizens no longer want people to tell them what they should think, what they should say. That鈥檚 what makes Donald Trump seductive,鈥� Wauquiez told France 2 Television.
350-percent spike
For weeks, a Canadian website has poked fun at Trump by inviting disaffected Americans to move to an island off Nova Scotia.
On Super Tuesday, as the returns rolled in, searches for 鈥淗ow can I move to Canada鈥� on Google spiked by more than 350 percent in four hours, Google editor Simon Rogers tweeted.
A social media link posted by Toronto Councilman Norm Kelly that gives helpful directions on how to apply for Canadian citizenship received over 37,000 retweets.
Bruce Arthur, a Canadian sportswriter and political commentator, tweeted this after Super Tuesday: 鈥淭o my American friends, I have an eight-person tent that I can set up in the forest behind my house but you may need your own air mattresses.鈥�