When you’ve lost Pat Robertson…
Reacting to President Donald Trump’s announcement that American forces will pull out of Syria and pave the way for Turkey to invade the country and attack Kurdish allies, the ultra-conservative televangelist on Monday joined the growing chorus of Republican critics of the president’s decision.
“I am absolutely appalled that the United States is going to betray those democratic forces in northern Syria,” he said during Monday’s broadcast of The 700 Club, first spotted by Right Wing Watch. “That we are possibly going to allow the Turkish to come in against the Kurds.”
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Calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a “thug” and “dictator,” Robertson said it was “nonsense” to call the Turkish leader an ally of America, claiming Erdogan is just “in for himself.”
Robertson, who has been a loyal Trump supporter, then took full aim at the president.
“The president, who allowed [Washington Post journalist Jamal] Khashoggi to be cut in pieces without any repercussions whatsoever, is now allowing the Christians and the Kurds to be massacred by the Turks,” he exclaimed. “The President of the United States is in danger of losing the mandate of heaven if he permits this to happen.”
Robertson’s forceful condemnation of the president comes as Trump takes heat from some of his staunchest defenders over the Syria pullout. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called the president’s move “irresponsible” and “unnerving to its core,” while Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade said the decision was “disastrous” as it would leave the Kurds to fend for themselves.
Amid the criticism from his supporters and fellow Republicans, Trump defended pulling out of Syria while adding that in his “great and unmatched wisdom” he would destroy Turkey’s economy if they did anything he considered to be off limits.
