GOP lawmaker: Trump’s video on Syria troop withdrawal ‘really kind of tacky’

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Thursday said he wished President Trump hadn’t released a video defending his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, calling the footage “tacky.”

Trump posted the video to his Twitter account on Wednesday. In it, he references troops killed in battle.

{mosads}“They’re all coming back and they’re coming back now. We won, and that’s the way we want it and that’s the way they want it,” Trump said while looking up and pointing to the sky.

Kinzinger told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that he didn’t like the video.

“I’m not going to ascribe bad motives to him in doing it but it was really, I think, kind of tacky,” he said.

The Illinois Republican is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who few missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said he didn’t think Trump could speak on behalf of his friends lost in combat.

“I know writing letters is tough, and calling families is tough. That’s part of the job of commander in chief. It’s what you run for. It’s a really difficult part of that,” Kinzinger said. “But you have to make tough decisions when it comes to things like fighting ISIS, like blocking Iran and Syria.”

Kinzinger continued by saying he “certainly” wished the White House hadn’t approved Trump’s video.

After historic victories against ISIS, it’s time to bring our great young people home! pic.twitter.com/xoNjFzQFTp

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018

Top U.S. national security officials have said the president is going against their advise to maintain a presence in Syria until the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is completely eradicated.

“It was the president’s decision to make, and he made it,”  one senior administration official told The Hill on Wednesday.

Kinzinger said it is “obvious” that Trump is ignoring his advisers and urged the president to keep politics out of decisionmaking.

“When it comes to foreign policy issues, issues of war especially, you have to be not sensitive to the politics at home but sensitive to the future of what it means for the country,” Kinzinger said.

“Fighting terrorism is not a choice that the United States makes, it’s a choice that’s made for us. The question of the choice we make is where do we fight them?” He continued. “Do we fight them in Syria, do we fight them in Iraq or do we ultimately fight them here at home or in the streets of Europe?“

Kinzinger, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that advancements in technology and transportation mean that the threat of terrorism can make it to the U.S.

“Letting up on this fight means they’re going to come here, that’s what I fear. And I think it’s going to come back to bite us,” he said.