Pat Robertson warns that Trump might lose the 'mandate of heaven' if he abandons Kurds in Syria
Evangelical leader Pat Robertson told his sizable audience that President Donald Trump might lose the "mandate of heaven" for announcing that U.S. troops would abandon northern Syria to Turkish forces.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to say right now, I am absolutely appalled that the United States is going to betray those Democratic forces in northern Syria, that we possibly gonna allow the Turks to come in against the Kurds," Robertson said.
"Erdogan is a thug, he has taken control of his country as a dictator. He is a strong leader and you say he's an ally of America, it is nonsense, he is in for himself."
Robertson cited the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudis as another contemptible event that the president did nothing to censure.
"And the president who allowed Khashoggi to be cut in pieces without any repercussions whatsoever is now allowing the Christians and the Kurds to be massacred by the Turks," he continued.
"And I believe, and I want to say this with great solemnity," he added, "the president of the United States is in danger of losing the mandate of heaven if he permits this to happen."
Trump has faced a great deal of criticism for the announcement that U.S. forces would leave Syria in anticipation of an invasion of the military by Turkey. Critics fear that Erdogan, the leader of Turkey, is simply targeting the Kurds, who valiantly fought against ISIS with U.S. backing.
"We want to bring our troops back from these endless wars," the president said Monday in defending his decision.
