Media, Democrats bash President Trump over al-Baghdadi raid
Trump's critics refuses to credit the president for the mission that killed ISIS leader al-Baghdadi; reaction on 'The Five.'
"The Five" reacted Tuesday to critics of President Trump, including many prominent Democrats, refusing to give him his due for the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
"Whatever you think about the way he delivered his speech [Sunday] when he announced this, this is the way that President Trump does things," co-host Martha MacCallum said. "He's completely under siege. This was an enormously ambitious undertaking, extraordinarily risky. And what bothers me the most in hearing all of these harsh reviews is that ... we're losing sight of this extraordinary achievement by these incredible members of our armed services."
In a lengthy statement Monday, former vice president and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden claimed that the raid resulting in Baghdadi's death happened in spite of -- not because of -- Trump.
Another presidential candidate, former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke, also advanced that notion while appearing on "The Daily Show" Monday night.
"Someone made the case, and it's very compelling to me, that this raid was successful in spite of or despite the president, not because of him," O'Rourke said.
On "The Five," MacCallum argued that critics are distracted from Baghdadi's death result by Trump's tone and what matters is the "mission."
"Now, I know people like things to come out in a different tone. But this is the tone of President Trump," MacCallum said. "And ultimately, what matters the most to ISIS, it matters the most to Americans, is whether or not that decision was carried out and if it was a successful mission."
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Co-host Greg Gutfeld says the reason critics are unhappy is that it hurts two key "narratives."
"The problem with this story for the media is it destroys two narratives. Number one, it kicks impeachment, you know, off the screen for a few days. And that drives them crazy," Gutfeld said. "Number two, it undermines the idea that what he's dealing with, foreign policy-wise, in Syria is wrong. That story is destroying those narratives."
Fox News' Joshua Nelson and Sam Dorman contributed to this report.
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