U.S. Sen. Steve Daines praised President Donald Trump and U.S. troops Sunday for the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“This is absolutely a great morning for America,” the Montana Republican told Fox News journalist Maria Bartiromo. “This is a great day for the world.”
“It’s only fitting that the last sounds that al-Baghdadi would have heard on this Earth would have been the thumps of U.S. forces helicopters …” he said.
Responding to a question from Bartiromo about lack of Democratic comment on the raid as of Sunday morning, Daines said the Democrats were obsessed with impeaching Trump.
“It’s a sad day in America when Democrats can’t stand up and thank the president and thank the military for taking out the leader of ISIS last night,” he said.
“The Democrats have impeachment obsession,” Daines said. “They are obsessed on one thing and that is to remove President Trump from office and I can tell you that is not going to happen.”
Democrats have since commented on al-Baghdadi’s death including presidential candidates such as Joe Biden.
“I congratulate our special forces, our intelligence community, and all our brave military professionals on delivering justice to the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” Biden said in a statement. “It is thanks to their courage and relentless determination to carry out their mission that ISIS has suffered a vital loss.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is criticizing the White House for failing to notify congressional leaders before the U.S. raid in Syria, according to the Associated Press.
Trump said he didn’t inform congressional leaders because he feared there would be a leak that would threaten the operation.
rump made the announcement Sunday morning that the ISIS leader had been killed in a raid by U.S. special operations forces in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province in Syria. He said al-Baghdadi killed himself and several family members in a suicide blast.
“He died like a dog, he died like a coward,” Trump told reporters, adding he was able to watch much of the raid from the White House on Saturday night.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Trump has been concentrating a long time to bring al-Baghdadi to justice and said it was a “game changer” on the war on terror.
He thanked the military: “I want to praise the young men and women on the ground who killed this (expletive).”
Graham praised the men and women of the military and said Trump deserved credit.
“This is a moment President Trump’s worst critics should say ‘Well done, Mr. President,’” he said.
The news of Baghdadi’s death comes as House Democrats are conducting an impeachment inquiry against Trump. The inquiry was sparked by a whistle-blower’s complaint that the president was pushing Ukraine’s leader into doing an investigation of a company connected to Hunter Biden, the son of Trump’s potential 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden. It is illegal to solicit or receive foreign help in a U.S. election.