WASHINGTON, D.C. – New Jersey’s leading Democrats are quick to criticize President Donald Trump but they’re also reliably slow to give him credit, even when it’s concerning the death of a top enemy of America.
They were almost universally quiet on Sunday morning after the President announced that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed by U.S. Special Forces.
–
The social media accounts of U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker were silent on al-Baghdadi meeting his well-deserved fate as well as the social media platforms of Democrat Governor Phil Murphy.
Most of the N.J. House delegation – comprised of 11 Democrats and 1 Republican (Chris Smith) was silent.
One exception was freshman Congressman Andy Kim (D, NJ-03), who supports Trump’s impeachment and faces a potentially tough reelection battle next year in a district carried by Trump in 2016. Predictably, Kim stopped short of giving any credit to the President.
“The death of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi is a massive blow in the fight against ISIS and their hateful mark on the world,”said Kim. “My first thoughts are of deep gratitude to our armed servicemen and women and our civilians throughout our intelligence and national security operations who oversaw and carried out this dangerous operation.”
Senator Booker (who is still running for president) wasn’t silent earlier in the week when he criticized President Trump’s recent policy change in Syra. “By completely abandoning our ally in the fight against ISIS, we’ve created a giant vacuum that our fiercest global enemies – Iran, Russia, Syria, and ISIS – have already begun to fill,” Booker complained on Friday.
In addressing the nation on Sunday morning, President Trump relayed some of what he observed while monitoring the operation from the fabled White House Situation Room.
“I got to watch much of it. No personnel were lost in the operation, while a large number of Baghdadi’s fighters and companions were killed with him,” Trump announced from the White House
“He died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way,” Trump added.
_
Watch: President Trump delivers remarks following the death of al-Baghdadi
–
