Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, tied the chemical attack in Syria to President Trump’s inaction and signal that he intended to “prematurely withdraw” from Syria.
Senator McCain calls on Trump to strike Syria after Douma attack, saying Assad has been “emboldened by American inaction” & Trump signaling that he will “prematurely withdraw” US troops
— Julie Davis (@juliehdavis) April 8, 2018
John McCain links the chemical attack in Syria to Trump signaling that the U.S. would withdraw from Syria. pic.twitter.com/KZyHwhIRc6
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 8, 2018
McCain has a career of hawkish rhetoric, and indeed he criticized Obama for inaction in Syria as well. Indeed, President Obama aid in December of 2016 that Syria had been one of the hardest issues he had faced as president.
The Republican Party doesn’t tend to criticize their own side of the aisle, no matter how treasonous their behavior appears to the American public. This makes McCain’s accusations sting a bit more, and he’s not alone.
Conservative Jennifer Rubin lamented Trump’s “weak, lame” attempt to blame President Obama, which she likened to his Syria policy (weak, lame):
Weak, lame. Like his Syria policy. https://t.co/SC9IrMO0j3
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) April 8, 2018
Trump has a lot of problems being president, but one of his biggest challenges (aside from his dubious loyalty to his country issue) is that he not only doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing, he lacks the judgment to attract good people and the temperament to rely upon good people.
Americans were weary after the invasion of Iraq, and wanted to focus on home issues, so many were attracted to Trump’s isolationist rhetoric during the campaign. But here it is, in action – and it’s not pretty. Syria is reportedly engaged in gross humanitarian abuses as dozens of people were killed by poison gas in Douma on Saturday. World leaders have long felt a need to be involved in Syria to protect their own interests when it comes to terrorism, Iran and Russia.
The United Nations Security Council plans to meet Monday afternoon over the attacks in Syria.
Ms. Jones is the co-founder/ editor-in-chief of PoliticusUSA and a member of the White House press pool.
Sarah hosts Politicus News and co-hosts Politicus Radio. Her analysis has been featured on several national radio, television news programs and talk shows, and print outlets including Stateside with David Shuster, as well as The Washington Post, The Atlantic Wire, CNN, MSNBC, The Week, The Hollywood Reporter, and more.
Sarah is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.