Democratic vice-presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, blasted Trump last year on decision to withdraw from northeast Syria

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – Sen. Kamala Harris (D, California), whom Joe Biden named on Tuesday as his running mate in the November elections, strongly criticized President Donald Trump last October, following his decision to withdraw US forces from northeast Syria and the Turkish assault into that area that came afterward.

In a telephone interview with the media outlet, Sirius XM, on Oct. 24, Harris described Trump’s decision as “really harming our national security and our standing around the world.”

She charged that Trump had “turned America’s back and sold out the Kurds, who have been standing with us and fighting ISIS.”

This has “signaled around the world” that “you cannot trust the American word,” she said. “You cannot trust that if you stand and fight and die, with and for them, that they will stand for you.”

On Oct. 6, the White House announced that Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had spoken by telephone, and “Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria,” while US forces would leave “the immediate area.”

The decision provoked an uproar in the US, including among Republicans and evangelical Christians, who are an important part of Trump’s political base. The well-known televangelist, Pat Robertson, warned that Trump was “in great danger of losing the mandate of heaven,” because of the potential “massacre” of Christians and Kurds by Turkey.

Read More: Broad opposition to Trump on Syria, including Republicans and evangelical Christians

In criticizing Trump last October, Harris stressed that the strength of the US “is not just based on its economic strength and its military strength,” but the respect accorded the country “as a democracy that has values.”

Speaking of a hoped-for Democratic victory in the 2020 presidential elections, Harris said then, “When we get elected,” we will need to make “a real statement to the rest of the world about who the American people are,” along with “our dedication to building those relationships back up” and the principle “that we rise or fall based on the strength of our alliances around the world.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany