Lindsey Graham rips ex-Obama officials' criticism of Trump's Syria pullout: 'Like going to a sumo wrestler asking for diet advice'
Consulting ex-Obama officials for foreign policy advice about Syria would be like asking a sumo wrestler for diet advice, said GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Consulting an ex-Obama official for foreign policy advice about Syria would be like asking a "sumo wrestler for diet advice," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on "Fox & Friends," Monday.
Co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Graham about former National Security Adviser Susan Rice and her criticism of President Trump's troop withdrawal in Syria, making numerous references to the Obama administration's strategic failures in the Middle East.
"These are the last people that should be commenting," Kilmeade said.
"It would be like going to a sumo wrestler asking for diet advice," Graham replied. "The last person I would talk to would be anybody from the Obama years."
Graham claimed the major difference between Trump and former President Barack Obama is Trump's willingness to course-correct. Graham said Obama's level of arrogance was off the charts and led to follies that ended up hurting the country.
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"Here's the difference between Trump and Obama: Trump will change his mind and adjust," he said. "Obama was smarter than everybody in the room. He knew everything about every topic. He blew it when it came to Syria. We had [Bashar al] Assad on the ropes. He let Russia and Iran come in to bail out Assad. He abandoned the Syrian democratic forces.
"Here's what President Trump is going to do" Graham added. "He's going to partner with the United States Congress -- R's and D's and we're going crush [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan until we stop the bloodshed. We're going to drive him out of Syria. We're going to reset the table."
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Graham touted forthcoming new sanctions against Turkey for the incursion into northern Syria. Graham said Erdogan "basically lied" to him during a recent meeting at the United Nations.
"It’s quickly deteriorating inside of Syria. I blame Turkey. There’s going to be crippling sanctions imposed by the Congress to supplement what President Trump’s administration has done. We’re going to send a signal to Turkey that’s unmistakable in the eyes of Erdogan and the world and we’re going to break his economy until he stops the bloodshed," he said.