Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his decision to abandon the Kurds to a Turkish military incursion in Syria by saying they didn’t help the US during World War II…and then told a morose story about seeing fallen soldiers come home.
“They didn’t help us in the Second World War, they didn’t help us with Normandy,” Trump said of the Kurds. He added, “With all of that being said, we like the Kurds.”
Earlier in the day, Trump in a statement released by the White House said he did not endorse the Turkish military operation and thought it was a “bad idea.” But he did not reference the Kurds once, nor did he signal any immediate response from the US to thwart Turkey’s actions.
The Trump administration on Sunday abruptly announced the US was withdrawing troops stationed in northeast Syria ahead of a Turkish operation. The move has been broadly condemned in Washington, including by top congressional Republicans and former Trump administration officials, as many feel Trump paved the way for Turkey to go after key US allies.
Trump then talked about how difficult it was to see fallen soldiers return to Dover Air Force Base and, well…just watch. It’s revolting.
This is the transcript of the story Trump told about what he saw and thought when he visited Dover Air Force Base as soldiers killed in action were returned in coffins. pic.twitter.com/ykXQWVrzJc [1]
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 9, 2019 [2]
Trump goes into extremely lurid detail about parents of fallen soldiers "scream," breaking through barriers and "jump on top of the coffins" after being devastated by their losses. pic.twitter.com/4bOoNNauNS [3]
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) October 9, 2019 [4]
Twitter was sickened:
A sick man rationalizes the slaughter he enabled. This is a shameful day for the presidency and the nation. https://t.co/95JH4EYrSX [5]
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) October 9, 2019 [6]
What the fuck is wrong with him? https://t.co/K6ndrwZU5Z [7]
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) October 9, 2019 [8]
Trump is a sociopath and it’s never more obvious than when he pretends to have human emotions. https://t.co/JER0UP2VuO [9]
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) October 9, 2019 [10]
seriously what the fuck https://t.co/QFOqYXr7Tm [11]
— darth™ (@darth) October 9, 2019 [12]
What an absolute psychopath he is https://t.co/Q5mUaBmahl [13]
— Shaun McIlroy (@shaunmcilroy) October 9, 2019 [14]
These are the fantasies of a serial killer. https://t.co/UVUoM47d6z [15]
— Lauren Hough (@laurenthehough) October 9, 2019 [16]