Trump Takes Credit for the Death of Isis Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi [EDITORIAL]

Back in 2012, Donald Trump said that people should stop congratulating President Obama for the death of Bin Laden. Now here we are in 2019 and the now President Donald Trump claims he should get credit for the death of known terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and that it is bigger than Bin Laden. While whether either death is more important than the other is another debate completely the big kicker here is the hypocrisy coming from this recent announcement from Trump.

While it is clear neither President pulled the actual trigger or in this case bomb that killed Baghdadi they each approved the missions and were involved in some small way. Obama did not directly take credit for the death but rather he acknowledged the soldiers who initiated the plan and executed it. Obama had a part in the death, as did Trump but for Trump to argue that Obama does not deserve credit and he does is just absurd. They both deserve credit but Trump has taken this chance to take more jabs at the former President once again. 

More than anything, this seems like another stunt to put the President at the center of attention and get the public to be more on his side as lately that hasn’t been the case. With the impeachment process making some progress and the constant hammering from Democrats there aren’t many sides that Trump is winning at the moment. That being said, it is still important that this terrorist was in fact killed as that is one less member of ISIS for the world to worry about and as with the death of Bin Laden it put many people’s minds at ease. In this situation, it is how the President has approached the whole thing that many people have found appalling and unprofessional.

The President referred to Baghdadi as a “dog” and “coward”, bad-mouthing the terrorist and flaunting his death to the public like it was some kind of trophy. Compare that speech to former President Obama and you get two completely different vibes with Obama remaining humble and simply informing the public of the news. Then we have Trump who continues to make fun and mock the terrorist and again make it about himself rather than stay professional. Along with that this news was “teased” by Trump as if it was some kind of movie, this is not news the President should be teasing the world just to get people to pay attention. Leaving the world in a confused state as to what this whole announcement is is simply unacceptable.

Teasing a new movie or new TV makes sense as that is what the entertainment industry does to keep people interested and excited about what’s next. But this isn’t the entertainment business this is politics where people’s lives are at stake and the death of a terrorist is not something that should be treated lightly. Instead of the President keeping people on edge he should come out and say what is happening right away to keep the public informed. And as we have seen this recent news has not changed people’s stance on the president, in fact, it may have done more good than harm. Shortly after the news President Trump attended the world series and was audibly booed at the stadium with people chanting “lock him up”. So clearly it will take much more to get the people.  on the President’s side in time for the 2020 election, that is of course if he isn’t impeached first. 

This editorial was based on a discussion by a JAMS 504 editorial board.