Forgetting, perhaps, his boss’ stance on Syria in 2013, White House press secretary Sean Spicer blamed former President Obama for the horrific gas attack massacre in Syria. Spicer told reporters on an off camera gaggle on Tuesday that the attack was a “consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution.”
“Today’s chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world,” Spicer said, according to Dan Merica of CNN. “These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution.”
However, Spicer continued to blast Obama for doing nothing, but at the time, Trump urged Obama to do nothing. Spicer said, “President Obama said in 2012 he would establish a red line against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing. The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this intolerable act.”
But in 2013 President Trump opposed President Obama’s plan to attack Syria:
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President Obama, do not attack Syria. There is no upside and tremendous downside. Save your "powder" for another (and more important) day!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2013
This was better than Trump’s Secretary of State Rex Tillerson managed, so bonus points to Spicer for caring about Syria.
Here’s Tillerson, who days ago said, “the status of President Bashar al-Assad would be decided by the Syrian people,” refusing to comment on Tuesday when asked for a response to the chemical attack massacre in Syria:
WATCH: Sec. Tillerson ignores questions about Syria chemical attack massacre. pic.twitter.com/AtTEKyHKim
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) April 4, 2017
Tillerson’s total lack of comment is a mark of shame for this country that symbolizes the Trumpian decent of our standing in the world.
Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer seems to be operating in a world where an all-powerful, omnipotent President Obama is to blame for everything, even when Trump took the exact same position that Spicer is now criticizing.
Sure, that’s to be expected on some level because certain policies of previous administrations really do impact events today. But since Trump has yet to take responsibility for his own policies and failures, the Trump White House’s knee-jerk blame Obama game is a tired, transparent dodge.
The Trump White House is doing nothing, Rex Tillerson didn’t even comment on it.
What is happening in Syria is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, and the way that Donald Trump is handling it is to blame Obama. Barack Obama isn’t the president. Hillary Clinton isn’t the president.
Donald Trump is sitting in the big chair, so the White House’s cowardice and failure in the face of an appalling chemical attack against innocent people is inexcusable.
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