Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) stalwart loyalty to President Donald Trump is starting to see more cracks as Trump doubles down on his decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria.
Graham, who’s been railing against the decision for more than a week, appeared on the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) on Wednesday morning to blast the consequences of the U.S. leaving the Kurds to deal with Turkey and ISIS detainees in Syria on their own.
“I am looking to President Trump to change this,” the Republican senator told CBN host Pat Robertson. “I will do anything I can to help him, but I will also become President Trump’s worst nightmare.”
“I will not settle on the sidelines and watch a good ally, the Kurds, be slaughtered by Turkey and watch Iran move into Syria and become another nightmare for Israel,” Graham continued. “This is a defining moment for President Trump. He needs to up his game.”
Trump, however, doesn’t seem to particularly care what his closest Senate ally thinks.
“Lindsey Graham would like to stay in the Middle East for the next thousand years, with thousands of soldiers fighting other people’s wars,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday afternoon. “I want to get out of the Middle East.”
Trump said Graham ought to focus on “the judiciary” and investigating Trump’s “deep state” conspiracy theory instead.
“That’s what the people of South Carolina want him to focus on,” the President said. “The people of South Carolina don’t want us to get into a war with Turkey, a NATO member, or with Syria. Let them fight their own wars.”
Trump says Graham "would like to stay in the Middle East for the next thousand years with thousands of soldiers fighting other people's wars." pic.twitter.com/j45ATitPTC
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) October 16, 2019
H/t Rawstory.
