In a Twitter post published on Saturday, Donald Trump dubbed himself “your favorite president,” while bragging about bringing American troops home from Syria, and slamming “fake news” media once again.
Trump suggested that the fact that it was him who decided to withdraw troops from Syria, after “decimating” ISIS, speaks volumes about the media. According to Trump, if anyone else but him made the announcement they would be lauded as a “hero.” Instead, because it is Donald Trump that has withdrawn the troops, the “fake news” media is criticizing the decision.
“If anybody but your favorite President, Donald J. Trump, announced that, after decimating ISIS in Syria, we were going to bring our troops back home (happy & healthy), that person would be the most popular hero in America. With me, hit hard instead by the Fake News Media. Crazy!”
Although characterized by the president’s signature braggadocio, the tweet could have at least some truth to it, according to various media publications and independent journalists.
Progressive journalist Michael Tracey opined via Twitter that liberals are being “taught by former Bush lackeys” that removing troops from a “pointless war” must be a “Russian plot,” calling MSNBC ‘s coverage of the withdrawals “sickening.”
“It’s amazing how much the military industrial complex has a lock down on TV,” another progressive journalist, Cenk Uygur, opined in a Twitter message. But it is not only journalists and progressive media figures that have praised Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria, without failing to point out that they don’t like him or his policies.
The Guardian , for instance, praised Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from Syria, arguing that the president has made a good decision.
Rolling Stone ‘s Matt Taibbi similarly observed that the “threat of ending our never-ending war” appears to have united the American political class, and a part of the population as well, which fails to understand that it is “not normal for a country to exist in a state of permanent war.”
EXCLUSIVE: Bolton expanded U.S. goals in Syria to challenge Iran. But Trump wasn’t on board, senior officials say, and Turkey took an opportunity to push the U.S. out https://t.co/roIvadwQxZ
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 22, 2018
Democratic lawmakers Ted Lieu, who is known for being a vocal critic of President Trump, and progressive Democrat Ro Khanna, both praised the withdrawal in separate Twitter messages, both arguing that they disagree with the vast majority of Trump’s policies, but still support withdrawing American troops from Syria. Khanna pointed out that Obama had intervened in the country without Congress authorization.
It’s surreal how MSNBC hosts have become indistinguishable from neocons. Joe Scarborough called Trump’s withdrawal from Syria “foreign policy welfare for Vladimir Putin”
He complained Trump is not being aggressive enough against Iran, and implied this is all a Kremlin conspiracy pic.twitter.com/eTuOeRsYaT
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) December 21, 2018
The Guardian , Rolling Stone , a dozen of progressive journalists, and two Democratic lawmakers may have praised the withdrawal, but the coverage has been overwhelmingly negative. CNN described the withdrawal as “bizarre,” MSNBC pundits suggested that the maneuver demonstrates that Trump is “putting Russia first.” The Washington Post had a unique take on the situation, writing, “It’s official. We lost the Cold War,” suggesting that Trump had decided to withdraw troops from the country at the direction of Vladimir Putin.
Read this spectacularly correct @mtaibbi column on Trump’s withdrawal from Syria and the utterly unhinged, virtually unanimous anger from the establishment wings of both parties, the “military & intelligence community,” and the MSNBC/neocon axis: https://t.co/8hHesvGPxU
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 22, 2018
Needless to say, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have criticized the withdrawal. Even former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took to Twitter to point out that Trump is benefiting Russia, and “empowering” ISIS.
Donald Trump is suggesting that another person would be treated fairly by the media for bringing American troops home, but research suggests otherwise. The Center for Research on Globalization concluded in a 2016 study that popular American media publications are “always pro-war.”