MAGA scrambled into damage control mode after Trump’s top negotiator admitted he may have been “duped” by Hamas in peace talks.
Vice President JD Vance jumped to special envoy Steve Witkoff’s defense Monday morning, posting on X, “Steve Witkoff is a great guy doing an incredible job. The people sniping at him are mad that he is succeeding where they failed for 40 years.”
He added, “Turns out a lot of diplomacy boils down to a simple skill: don’t be an idiot.”
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Witkoff had inadvertently revealed that he may have been played by the terror group during negotiations over an extended ceasefire eight days ago.
“I was in Doha, I met with many of the Arab leaders at the Arab summit; I thought we had a deal, an acceptable deal,” he said. “I even thought we had an approval from Hamas. Maybe that is just me getting duped.”
Others in the MAGA world were less willing to acknowledge a fumble. Supporters reassured Witkoff in replies to Vance’s post. “Steve Witkoff is doing good. Actual dialogue and diplomacy is so much better than chest thumping,” one X user wrote.
Another chimed in, “Witkoff knows peace comes from compromise. His detractors don’t want to accept that reality.”
The conservative National Review wasn’t feeling so generous. The magazine, which has been sharply critical of Trump’s foreign policy, didn’t sugarcoat its assessment: “Yes, Mr. Witkoff. You were duped.”
The magazine has derided Trump’s foreign policy in recent weeks, particularly his approach to the war in Ukraine and negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Witkoff met with two weeks ago.
On Friday, during an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s podcast, the envoy shrugged off concerns about Putin.
“I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy,” Witkoff said, calling the authoritarian leader who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 “super smart.”
