President Trump said Tuesday that the Syrian regime’s recent chemical attack on civilians is a direct consequence of former President Obama’s “weakness” and “cannot be ignored by the civilized world.”
“These heinous actions… are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution,” the president said in a statement. “President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘red line’ against the use of chemcial weapons and then did nothing.”
Doubling down on statements from United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley about the future of Syrian President Bashar Assad, White House press secretary Sean Spicer had said earlier Tuesday that the window for ousting the brutal leader has come and gone.
“There is not a fundamental option of regime change as there was in the past,” he told reporters.
Like Trump, Spicer pointed to the same pivotal moment in the previous administration’s dealings with Syria, when Obama said in 2012 that Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his people would mark a “red line” which, if crossed, would lead the U.S. to intervene militarily. The Obama administration later walked the statement back and declined to support it with military action after Assad did indeed deploy chemical agents against civilians.
“What’s the point of red lines? America’s credibility was at stake,” Spicer said.
He defended the administration’s position that removing Assad is not an option for the U.S. to pursue.
“There’s not a comfort level with Assad. I think it’s a political reality,” Spicer said.
