Former Marine Slams Trump’s Kurd Betrayal In Ad On His Favorite Fox News Show

Ed Mazza
Updated

President Donald Trump could find himself receiving criticism from an unexpected source on Wednesday: an ad during “Fox & Friends,” reportedly his favorite Fox News show.

The spot from the Republican group Defending Democracy Together ― led by conservative Trump critic Bill Kristol ― features a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant slamming Trump’s decision to abandon America’s Kurdish allies by withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria.

“Every Marine knows that you don’t leave a Marine behind. You don’t leave an ally behind,” Sgt. Joe Jenkins says in the spot. “So why are we leaving the Kurds behind? That’s not right.”

Jenkins, now a teacher in Texas, served in the Marines for five years, including back-to-back tours in Iraq’s Anbar province.

“How long can America keep relying on others when we turn our backs?” he asks in the spot, which will air on “Fox & Friends” in Washington and also digitally:

Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria drew widespread denunciation from both sides of the aisle, with the House voting 354-60 to condemn the move.

The commercial directs viewers to the Stand With Allies website to sign a petition aimed at the 60 lawmakers who voted against the measure, all of whom are Republicans.

“The Kurds in Syria have been America’s most effective local ally in fighting ISIS,” Kristol said in a statement, noting that Kurdish intelligence helped U.S. forces find and kill ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

He added:

This is an indefensible betrayal of a key U.S. ally, and every American should remember this shame and dishonor so that we never repeat this mistake again.

According to the United Nations, 180,000 people ― including 80,000 children ― were displaced by the two weeks of fighting that ensued after U.S. troops left and Turkey attacked the Kurds.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.