Lindsey Graham lets loose on Trump's decision to pull out of northern Syria and says the White House is lying about ISIS

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Lindsey Graham lets loose on Trump's decision to pull out of northern Syria and says the White House is lying about ISIS

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lindsey graham
  • Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a consistently passionate supporter of President Donald Trump, slammed the president over his decision to pull US troops out of northeastern Syria to allow Turkey to invade the region. 
  • "I hope I'm making myself clear how shortsighted & irresponsible this decision is, in my view," Graham said on Fox News on Monday morning. "This to me is just unnerving to its core."
  • Graham called the move a "big win" for ISIS, Iran, and the Syrian regime and said the White House's claim that ISIS has been largely defeated a "lie." 
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a consistently passionate supporter of President Donald Trump, slammed the president over his decision to pull US troops out of a strategic part of Syria to allow Turkey to invade the region. 

The White House announced on Sunday that it would cease defending Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, allowing Turkey to attempt to seize control of the region - a sharp change in US policy. The Kurds have long partnered with the US in fighting the Islamic State, which Trump has repeatedly claimed has been eradicated by his administration. 

"This impulsive decision by the president has undone all the gains we've made, thrown the region into further chaos, Iran is licking their chops, and if I'm an ISIS fighter, I've got a second lease on life," Graham said during a Monday morning interview on "Fox and Friends." "I will do everything I can to sanction Turkey's military and their economy if they step one foot into Syria." 

Even as the hosts of the conservative morning news show - a favorite of the president's - attempted to push back on Graham's argument, the senator escalated his condemnation. Graham called the move a "big win" for ISIS, Iran, and the Syrian regime and said the White House's claim that ISIS has been largely defeated a "lie." 

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The Pentagon has estimated that there are between 14,000 and 18,000 ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria whose power is again on the rise in part due to Trump's rapid withdrawal from Syria.

Read more: Just a handful of Republican lawmakers have rebuked Trump's calls for Ukraine and China to interfere in the US election

"I hope I'm making myself clear how shortsighted & irresponsible this decision is, in my view," Graham said. "This to me is just unnerving to its core."

Graham went on, "ISIS is not defeated. This is the biggest lie being told by this administration."

 

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