On Sunday’s broadcast of CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, commented on President Donald Trump’s announcement of the death Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS.
Host Jake Tapper asked, “What do you make of the president’s— he painted a very vivid picture of al Baghdadi dying a very cowardly death, which I don’t doubt for a second, a lot of these terrorists are cowards. It was very vidid. He talked about him crying and whining, detonating his vest, killing his three children while he did so. I don’t doubt it, they’re monsters, but is there any concern on your part because now there is a question what ISIS will do in response to this move, in response perhaps to the president’s rhetoric. Does that concern you at all in terms of galvanizing or motivating isis terrorists?”
Thornberry replied, “It probably makes me a little uncomfortable to hear a president talking that way. Again Baghdadi was the inspirational leader for the ISIS network across the world from Africa to Southeast Asia. If you can take a little bit of the glamour off him and make him less inspirational, there is a value to that for all of these folks who are on their computers or in these networks looking to attack.”
”But you’re exactly right, ISIS will seek to do something to show, we’re still here, we’re still relevant,” he continued. “So the United States is going to be tested in the days to come, and as you know, one of my big concerns is we’ve only funded the military for about 25 more days. The dysfunction in Washington is translating into doing real damage to our military, who we depend on and are so proud of, for things like this.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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