A Syrian American Council spokesman urged President Trump to take action following chemical attacks against civilians in Syria over the weekend, looking directly into the camera to make his plea.
“The president needs to take swift and decisive action right now,” said Bassam Rifai, chair of the group’s public relations committee, during an interview with Fox News on Monday.
“President Trump, I’m speaking to you directly,” he added. “Do not [make] the same mistake that President Obama had made.”
Trump is known to be a frequent Fox News viewer and many guests on the network will go on the air hoping to reach the president’s ears.
Rifai encouraged Trump to “take out” Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s air force to prevent future attacks.
“If we ground all his air force, he won’t have the capability to attack Syrians from the air anymore,” Rifai said.
Earlier Monday, Trump said that he would reveal how the U.S. would respond to the “heinous” chemical attack, which killed more than 40 people, within the next several days.
Watch Rifai’s comments below:
Fox News guest turns to the camera, says “President Trump, I’m speaking to you directly,” and says “what we need to do right now is to take out Assad’s air force” pic.twitter.com/sMdKAyBldR
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 9, 2018
