Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Monday took issue with President Trump over logistics and processes of his plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria — but on her opening day on the campaign trail did not criticize the substance of his decision.
The California senator said she was primarily “concerned with the process” and that foreign policy should not be conducted “through tweets.” Talking to reporters at Howard University, her alma mater, shortly after launching her White House bid, Harris hit Trump for not consulting with top military officials or allies before his December announcement, which helped lead Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to resign.
“My concern is that when we make decisions about what we will do in terms of our military presence, much less our diplomatic priorities,” Harris said. “That we do that in a way that will involve consultation with our military leaders, in a way that will involve some kind of consultation, or at least outreach, to our allies around the globe, and that when we then make those decisions, the American public can have a better sense of confidence that it is the right decision.”
Harris is not the only 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful to chide Trump for the way he’s handling the Syria troop withdrawal rather than the policy itself. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said recently she agreed that troops should be withdrawn from the region, but that Trump should have gone about the move differently.
Until Monday, Harris, along with a group of other 2020 hopefuls had been quiet on the issue.
