Donald Trump’s airstrike in Syria has won him some unlikely supporters - and they’re not too comfortable about agreeing with the US President.
James O’Brien said it was “hard not to welcome the re-enforcement of a chemical weapons red line”, but admitted it was worrying that the action had been carried out by Trump.
Trump’s actions overnight, a retaliation for Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons attack on his own people two days earlier, was denounced by Moscow as causing “a significant blow” to Russian-American relations but has been endorsed by the UK Government as an “entirely appropriate” response.
Tory MP and former Chancellor George Osborne echoed O’Brien’s sentiments.
And the editor of Politics.co.uk, Ian Dunt, concurred that a red line “needed to be maintained”, while still raising concerns about Trump’s seemingly rash response, something that Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has also flagged.
The turnaround came as some of Trump’s most fervent far-right and alt-right supporters also experienced a change of heart on the president.
Paul Joseph Watson, provocateur-in-chief at conspiracy site Infowars, led the hasty retreat of the alt-right on Thursday.
Watson wrote on Twitter that he was “officially off the Trump train” and Richard Spencer, co-editor of altright.com, also said he was “done with” the Republican leader.
Nigel Farage also deviated in his unwavering support for Trump after about 60 cruise missiles were aimed at the Shayrat Air Base.
Trump has been accused of hypocrisy for his bombing campaign as he continues to deny Syrian refugees entry to the US, along with five other predominantly Muslim countries.
The US President expressed his deep concern for “beautiful babies” and other civilians killed in a chemical weapons attack this week, yet he still won’t accept refugees trying to flee the war torn state into the US.
“Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children,” Trump said on Thursday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered at this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.”
Trump’s actions, a retaliation for Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons attack on his own people, has been denounced by Moscow as causing “a significant blow” to Russian-American relations.
Trump has urged other “civilised nations” to join efforts “seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria”, which has been devastated by a six-year civil war.