South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is back on President Donald Trump’s team when it comes to Syria.
The Federalist Papers reports:
After meeting with the president on Sunday Graham says he is on the same page as the president, The Hill reported.
“We talked about Syria and he told me some things I didn’t know that made me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria,” Graham told reporters.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who criticized President Trump’s withdrawal of troops from the Middle East, says Trump today told him “some things I didn’t know that make me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria” pic.twitter.com/HBbvzirDfO
— CBS News (@CBSNews) 30 December 2018
“He promised to destroy ISIS. He’s going to keep that promise,” Graham continued. “We’re not there yet, but as I said today we’re inside the 10-yard line, and the president understands the need to finish the job.”
Graham, who has emerged as one of the president’s closest allies on Capitol Hill but criticized him on the decision to withdraw troops, said earlier in the day he hoped to use the lunch to urge Trump to reconsider his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria.
He had previously spoken against the president’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria when he first announced it, The Hill reported.
“To those who say we have defeated ISIS in Syria, that is an inaccurate statement,” Graham said after Trump’s announcement Wednesday that he would be pulling troops out of the embattled nation. “They have been hurt, they have been degraded.”
“I give the president all the credit in the world for changing their policies regarding the fight against ISIS, but I will not buy into the narrative that they have been defeated,” Graham said, adding that he had just returned from visiting with troops in Afghanistan.
“To say they’re defeated is an overstatement and is fake news,” Graham added. “It is not true. They have been severely damaged, but they will come back unless we’re there to stop them.”
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