Rachel Maddow on Syria strikes: ‘Trump’s chaotic presidency has national security consequences’

On the heels of President Trump’s airstrikes on Syria’s Assad, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said that regardless of how the decision was made, the whole thing has a “wag the dog” kind of vibe.

“There are national security consequences to having a presidency that is as chaotic as Mr. Trump’s presidency, that is as consumed by scandal and criminal intrigue as his presidency is,” Maddow said Friday night, referring to recent news surrounding Trump such as the FBI raid on his personal lawyer’ office.

She went on to say that both allies and enemies of the U.S. may think that Trump “issued the order to launch this strike tonight, even in part, because… he wanted to distract from a catastrophic domestic scandal that is blowing up at home at the same time.”

“Even if the tail is not wagging the dog, even if you give the president every benefit of the doubt, even if this decision was taken with absolutely no regard for whatever else is going on in the president’s life right now, what else is going on in the president’s life right now unavoidably creates a real perception around the globe that, that may have been part of the motivation,” Maddow continued.

Trump launched the “precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad” on Friday in response to a poison gas attack that killed dozens last week.

According to Trump, the “massacre was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons used by that very terrible regime.”

The efficacy of the attacks is questionable. According to a report from Reuters this Friday, the Syrian government and its allies “have absorbed” the attack since the targeted sites were evacuated days ago thanks to a warning from Russia.

Watch Maddow in the video below:

Featured image via screen grab