Trump lashes out at Fox’s Brian Kilmeade after he gently suggests Trump made a “huge mistake” in Syria
Donald Trump knows that if Fox News turns fully against him he will lose the last support pillar propping up his crumbling presidency. His disastrous, indefensible decision to withdraw U.S. forces from a region in Northeast Syria, greenlighting a Turkish invasion in the process and throwing our allies in the area, notably the Kurds, to the wolves has divided Republicans in Congress and some of the talking heads at Fox.
War crimes are already being carried out by Turkey and its jihadist proxies, ISIS prisoners are escaping, and the specter of genocide floats over the entire invasion. Finally, it seems that Trump has done something so heinous that even his biggest boosters are struggling to justify it.
Earlier today, Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends said the Turkish military campaign has turned out “worse than anyone could have imagined.” Kilmeade, reliably one of the most obsequious Trump supporters on the entire network, went on to suggest that Trump must come to realize he “made a huge mistake” and should just admit that Turkey’s President Erdogan “mislead” him.
While a surprising show of spine from the characteristically craven Kilmeade, it’s a vain effort on his part. This president is pathologically incapable of admitting wrongdoing and is unlikely to undo this colossal blunder even as it stains the sands of Syria with innocent blood. You cannot appeal to the better angels of Donald Trump’s nature because he has none.
“It’s been worse than anyone could have imagined." @kilmeade criticizes @realDonaldTrump's policies in Syria.
"The president must realize he made a huge mistake and say, I had a conversation with Erdogan, he mislead me like everyone of the region."https://t.co/ndWcTquAkw pic.twitter.com/BVfbevcGCN
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 14, 2019
Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for Trump to lash out. He’s well known for his addiction to Fox & Friends, but he tunes in to hear himself lavished with praise, not to face legitimate criticisms.
Trump tweeted that Kilmeade “got it all wrong” and immediately trotted out his ignorant, cowardly talking points on Syria, saying that the people in the region have been “fighting each other for 200 years.” This recurring line of his is clearly a racist, Islamaphobic canard aimed at smearing the Turks, Kurds, and other ethnic groups in Syria as savages whose fighting can’t be stopped, which is par for the course for this odious man.
The president then slammed Europe for not taking the ISIS prisoners being held in the region by the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and implied that his decision to leave our allies to the slaughter is saving the United States money. He also claimed that he will hit Turkey with sanctions and that he avoided war with a NATO country.
In reality, all Trump had to do was keep a small contingent of soldiers stationed between the Turks and SDF-controlled regions. Turkey would have not attacked U.S. troops to get through, but the moment Trump moved those American forces he opened up an invasion corridor for Turkey. He is outright lying about what he did, what is happening, and what would have happened if he had simply done nothing.
There is no way to justify his heinous actions and this bloodshed will stain his and America’s legacies for years to come.
Brian Kilmeade over at @foxandfriends got it all wrong. We are not going into another war between people who have been fighting with each other for 200 years. Europe had a chance to get their ISIS prisoners, but didn’t want the cost. “Let the USA pay,” they said…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2019
….Kurds may be releasing some to get us involved. Easily recaptured by Turkey or European Nations from where many came, but they should move quickly. Big sanctions on Turkey coming! Do people really think we should go to war with NATO Member Turkey? Never ending wars will end!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2019
