On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” RealClearPolitics Associate Editor and columnist A.B. Stoddard argued that President Obama is “running out the clock” in Syria, while Hillary Clinton avoids mentioning Syria because “she doesn’t want to be associated with a failed policy in the Middle East,” while Donald Trump “is sympathetic to Russia, or whatever his position is. It’s not, you know, it’s not the American position. It’s not usually the Republican position.”
Stoddard said, [relevant remarks begin around 4:15] “[H]e drew a red line, and that he called for airstrikes, and the Congress rejected him, and then we’ve watched the whole situation deteriorate, and this is now a new normal where something like this is going on, where the world stands by, especially the United States in a position of leadership, really paralyzed these last couple years since 2013. And it’s gotten worse and worse, and really, he threw out some tough talk, I thought it was interesting today on Russia, but the headline here is that, we seem sort of powerless in the face of Russia’s role here. They’re in the driver’s seat. And so, he — you know, he’s running out the clock. He’s leaving really soon. Trump won’t talk about this, because he is sympathetic to Russia, or whatever his position is. It’s not, you know, it’s not the American position. It’s not usually the Republican position. And then Hillary Clinton, because she doesn’t want to be associated with a failed policy in the Middle East, especially in Syria, from the Obama administration, doesn’t want to talk about it either.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett