White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller appeared on CNN to defend President Trump’s potential Syria withdrawal and attack media outlets that are suddenly “supporters of every entanglement in the Middle East.”
Miller’s comments came during Thursday night’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” on CNN.
WATCH:
“The media that’s having this hysterical reaction to James Mattis retiring is the same media in many cases — the same politicians in many cases — who cheered our nation into a war in Iraq that turned out to be an absolute catastrophe,” Miller told CNN host Wolf Blitzer, responding to a question about Mattis’ retirement and the question of whether it was at least partially spurred by Trump’s Syria policy. “This president got elected to get our foreign policy back on the right track after years of being adrift. One foreign policy blunder after another in Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya hasn’t worked out for our national interest.”
Stating that the night would include “no policy announcements,” but rather a “big picture” view, Miller spoke “of a country that through several administrations had an absolutely catastrophic foreign policy that cost trillions and trillions of dollars and thousands and thousands of lives that made the Middle East more unstable and more dangerous.”
“And let’s talk about Syria,” he added. “Let’s talk about the fact — ISIS is the enemy of Russia. ISIS is the enemy of Assad. ISIS is the enemy of Turkey. Are we supposed to stay in Syria for generation after generation, spilling American blood to fight the enemies of all those countries?” (RELATED: Christian Theologian Makes Case That God Supports Trump’s Border Wall)
“Wolf, when did the American people sign up to be in every war in every place in every side of every conflict all over planet earth?” Miller asked.
Blitzer asked about conservatives like Lindsey Graham, Mattis, and others who are “opposed to the president’s decision.”
“Some of the voices you’re talking about like our dear friend Lindsey Graham, who we like a great deal, have been wrong about Middle East policy, have been wrong about Iraq,” he said.
“I just find it amusing that the media continue to cite Lindsey Graham as the greatest authority on foreign policy in American history,” said Miller before adding a question for Blitzer and other media figures. “Since when has the United States media become the supporters of every entanglement in the Middle East that has bogged down this country?”
“This president has been very clear about the fact — he will defend America like no one else,” Miller added. “He will have a military power second to none. He will kill terrorists wherever and whenever he has to, but he is also gonna be sophisticated and smart about it.”
