After the Trump administration unexpectedly announced on Sunday that it would pull American troops out of northern Syria where U.S.-allied Kurdish forces have borne the brunt of fighting against the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS), multiple right-wing commentators appeared on Fox News and Fox Business to defend the move as Trump fulfilling a 2016 campaign promise. The Trump administration move came as Turkey has openly announced its plans to attack the Kurdish forces.
“He campaigned on this”: The Fox News figures defending Trump’s abandonment of America’s anti-ISIS Kurdish allies
Written by Zachary Pleat
Published
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham made the announcement following a phone call between President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stating, “Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria. The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the ISIS territorial ‘Caliphate,’ will no longer be in the immediate area.”
The Associated Press characterized Trump’s decision as “essentially abandoning Kurdish fighters who fought alongside American forces in the yearslong battle to defeat Islamic State militants.” According to The New York Times, Trump “had given his endorsement for a Turkish military operation that would sweep away American-backed Kurdish forces near the border in Syria.” Trump later denied he was supportive of the Turkish operation.
Some congressional Republicans have criticized Trump’s decision, calling it “a major blunder,” “an impulsive decision,” “terribly unwise,” and “a betrayal.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urged the president to “reverse this dangerous decision.” Brett McGurk, Trump’s former special envoy to the anti-IS coalition, said: “This looks to be another reckless decision made without deliberation or consultation following a call with a foreign leader. The White House statement bears no relation to facts on the ground. If implemented, it will significantly increase risk to our personnel, as well as hasten ISIS’s resurgence.”
On Twitter, multiple journalists noted that Trump owns a major property in Istanbul, with some pointing to a 2012 tweet by presidential daughter Ivanka Trump thanking Turkey’s president for joining her in the launch of Trump Towers there. HuffPost reported that financial disclosures show the president had earned at least $1 million from the towers since he became president. HuffPost also noted that when Trump was asked in a 2015 interview how he would handle Turkey and Syria if he became president, he replied, “I have a little conflict of interest ‘cause I have a major, major building in Istanbul. … It’s called Trump Towers.”
When Fox News covered Trump’s decision on Monday, some figures criticized the president for abandoning the Kurdish forces. But many others expressed support for Trump’s betrayal of American allies. While Fox’s prime-time host Tucker Carlson, who often promotes white supremacist talking points, applauded the move with a blatantly racist comment, calling Syria a “Middle Eastern tar pit,” most others claimed that Trump was fulfilling a campaign promise to “pull us out of these wars.”
Fox host Laura Ingraham: “He said he was going to pull us out of these wars. He’s doing what he said he was going to do. People voted for that.”
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From the October 7 edition of Fox News' The Ingraham Angle
LAURA INGRAHAM (HOST): Victor, I’ve got to get your thoughts though on President Trump's move toward withdrawing U.S. forces from a section in Syria and allowing Turkey to move in, Erdogan’s forces. Now, politicians on both sides of the aisle are calling this a bad move -- endangers our Kurdish allies, they've done so much for us -- but Trump did say he was going to pull our troops out of Syria. The [Authorization for Use of Military Force] from 2001 that was sponsored by [Sen.] Tom Daschle on September 18, 2001, I guess is still authorizing military force in the Middle East, which I'm not wild about. But, what about our Kurd allies? I mean, they put everything on the line for us and our mission.
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON (HOOVER INSTITUTION SENIOR FELLOW): I think we’re trying to square a circle because the Kurds are our friends but they’re not our legal allies, and Turks are legal allies but they’re not our friends. So we’re in a dilemma, and we’re in a circular firing squad in Syria where everybody’s shooting at each other. And yet every time we’ve fought in the last 20 or 30 years, the Kurds have been on our side, so I think what we need to do is find a way that's not antithetical to Trump’s agenda -- that is, we’re not going to these optional no-win, no-lose endless wars -- but protect people that have helped us. And I think he can do that, but the problem is that we in the United States are pledged to help independent people -- the Greeks, the Armenians, the Israelis, the Poles, the Kurds -- that are in difficult geographies. We always have. And one of the ironies is throughout history they've often been targeted by whom? The Turks. And yet we come to their aid when it's not in the cost-benefit analysis in our favor. So, I think Trump can find a way, Mike Pompeo’s had great success in Greece reestablishing relations with the Greeks, who are also in the same situation vis a vis Turkey. And I think that's what he's going to have to work on.
INGRAHAM: Yeah. I think it's probably a lot more complicated than people think it is right now.
HANSON: It is. It is.
INGRAHAM: Again, he said he was going to pull us out of these wars. He's doing what he said he was going to do. People voted for that. I think if Congress wants to have another use of military force authorization, they better be voting. That means the squad, AOC, Tlaib -- they should all have to vote for this. That’s my view. Don't dine out on 2001, that's a long time ago.
Fox Business guest Corey Lewandowski: “He made a pledge to bring our troops home, he has to do that. It’s the right thing to do.”
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From the October 7 edition of Fox Business' Lou Dobbs Tonight
LOU DOBBS (HOST): The president really raising hell today. He put the military-industrial complex on notice that he wouldn't sacrifice a thousand lives in Syria for a bunch of neocon nonsense that has gone on for five years with lots of puffery coming out of the Senate about why they’re there and why it’s so critical for them to be there, and to no end. Your thoughts?
COREY LEWANDOWSK (FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER)I: Well Lou, look, I’m not a military expert. But I do know this: This is not the first time we’ve seen members of Congress or the Senate get out in front of the president only to walk things back after because they don't have all the information that he has. And look, I think this president, when he ran for office, and now that he's in office, has the most important job he can have, which is making sure our men and women in uniform come home safely. And if we don't have a reason that we need to be in a country, I know that he has always said, “Any man or woman who wears that patch of the American flag on their uniform should be home safely with their families.” That’s what he’s pledged to do and that’s what he’s going to do.
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LEWANDOWSKI: One man got elected to be president of the United States with 63 million people supporting him. He made a pledge to bring our troops home, he has to do that. It’s the right thing to do. Those people should be on U.S. soil unless there is an absolute critical reason why every single one has to be forward-deployed.
Fox Business host Lou Dobbs: “The president is right. History will prove him right. And he campaigned on this.”
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From the October 7 edition of Fox Business' Lou Dobbs Tonight
LOU DOBBS (HOST): We’ve got a thousand troops -- and these people are fighting with the president over a thousand of our troops being stuck in northern Syria in grave danger and in harm's way for no national security purpose whatsoever.
ED ROLLINS (REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST): He need to get them out of there but he needs not to be in a fractious battle with his own side at this point in time. And I --
DOBBS: Well the hell with the fractious battle -- tell them to stand down. It’s enough putting this on the president. The president is right. History will prove him right. And he campaigned on this. And these damn fools campaigned on nothing.
Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy: “I think the president is doing exactly what he wants to because he has made from the get-go, very clear campaign promise … to end, you know, wars in other countries.”
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From the October 7 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): Just what a disaster. I mean, the president's statement through Stephanie Grisham is, you know, we defeated the [IS] caliphate, the caliphate’s destroyed. We would not have done that without the Kurds, who did all of our fighting, while our guys -- the reason why our casualties were so low was because the Kurds did all the fighting. Now we’re saying, “OK, Turks, go wipe them out or force them out.” What kind of message is that to the next ally that wants to side with us? Meanwhile, we’re taking Sunni prisoners and giving them to Sunni Turkey, who has been nothing but irresponsible, though technically a NATO ally. A disastrous series of events. I hope the president will rethink this.
STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): I think the president is doing exactly what he wants to because he has made from the get-go, very clear campaign promise to --
KILMEADE: To release ISIS fighters?
DOOCY: Campaign promise to end, you know, wars in other countries.
KILMEADE: And abandon our allies, that’s a campaign promise?