“Fox and Friends” host Brian Kilmeade debated White House press secretary Sarah Sanders Friday morning over President Donald Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria.
As Sanders echoed Trump’s remarks that he’s following through on a campaign pledge to bring troops home, Kilmeade pushed back, arguing Trump is “giving Russia a big win.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has applauded Trump’s decision.
Kilmeade also pointed out Trump’s hypocrisy, arguing the president is “doing exactly what he criticized President Obama for doing.”
“He said President Obama is the founder of ISIS,” Kilmeade said. “[Trump] just refounded ISIS, because they’ve got 30,000 men there, and they’re already striking back with our would-be evacuation. The president is really on the griddle with this.”
As Sanders offered a rebuttal and argued Trump’s decision does not help ISIS, Kilmeade pushed back, saying “leaving is helping.”
Trump’s decision has been widely criticized, with even Republicans arguing the move will help ISIS. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called it an “Obama-like decision,” and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) calling it a “colossal” mistake. Trump made the decision against the advice of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who announced Thursday he would retire in February.
It isn’t the first time this week Fox News has been critical of a Trump decision. On Thursday, Fox News panelist Lisa Kennedy Montgomery called out Trump for implying he’d circumvent Congress to build a wall at the southern U.S. border, saying people would be “up in arms” if Obama had tried the same thing.