The hosts of MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” slammed President Trump Wednesday for his initial, nonchalant response to an Iranian drone attack on a U.S. Apache helicopter this week, calling his desperation to end the war in the Middle East “absolutely fascinating and frightening.”
On Monday, an Iranian drone was used to bring down a U.S. Apache military helicopter. The survivors of the attack were rescued from the Strait of Hormuz and America responded Tuesday with a bombing strike on Iran. However, before the nation’s official response, President Trump was quoted telling The Wall Street Journal that the helicopter attack “wasn’t a big deal,” which “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough took serious issue with.
“This is the same President of the United States who last week was saying, ‘Oh, Iran’s moving on nukes,’ when they were actually repeating the same thing that they’ve been saying for 50 years,” Scarborough noted. “This is just absolutely fascinating and frightening how desperate he is to get out of this war.”
“Our allies in the region have been deeply concerned since this war began that this war that they did not want would end with Donald Trump striking a terrible deal,” Scarborough continued. “Over this past week, we’ve seen the desperation grow.”
“Two things can be true at the same time. You can be against a war, like our Gulf allies were against the start of this war, but also be against the president stumbling out desperately and giving Iran extraordinary deals,” the “Morning Joe” host added. “Yesterday was the low point, when for a few short hours, he was saying it wasn’t a big deal that the Iranians shot down our Apache helicopter.”
You can watch the full “Morning Joe” segment yourself below.
The Washington Post columnist and frequent “Morning Joe” panelist David Ignatius echoed Scarborough’s sentiments Wednesday.
“Our Gulf allies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in particular, said one thing clearly before the war started. They weren’t sure this war was sensible, but, ‘If you start it, you’ve got to finish it,’” Ignatius remarked. “President Trump’s problem is he seems unable to finish this.”
Scarborough went on to argue that Trump needs to be careful about how he ultimately brings the Iran War to an end.
“It’s just like Afghanistan. Most Americans wanted us to get out of Afghanistan. There’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it,” Scarborough concluded. “Ignoring Apache helicopters being shot down and giving Iran control of the Strait [of Hormuz] in a way that’s going to hurt working Americans every day they go to fill up their gas tanks? That’s the wrong way to do it.”