Maher: Trump has made Syria ‘more anti-American than Berkeley’

HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher joked Friday that President Trump’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from northeastern Syria had turned the country further against the U.S. than students at University of California Berkeley. The Syrian region is currently under a cease-fire after a siege by Turkish military forces. 

During his monologue Friday, Maher took aim at Trump over reports that hundreds of Islamic State (ISIS) prisoners had escaped amid chaos caused by a Turkish invasion of Kurdish-held regions of Syria.

{mosads}”Syria is now being taken over by Russia, Iran, and ISIS,” Maher said Friday. “Trump has created the only place in the world more anti-American that Berkeley.”

“Good news, we finally found someone in the Middle East to greet us as liberators. Bad news, it’s ISIS,” he added.

Trump has faced stinging criticism from members of his own party over the U.S. withdrawal of troops from northern Syria ahead of Turkey’s invasion, which many lawmakers condemned as a betrayal of Kurdish forces. Both the Kurdish military faction and civilians aided the U.S. coalition forces during the war against the Islamic State.

The House voted this week in rare bipartisan fashion to condemn the withdrawal of U.S. troops, a move that was supported by leadership of both parties and led to an explosive confrontation between Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at the White House.

A ceasefire deal for the region announced by the Trump administration this week was also heavily criticized after the terms revealed to include the removal of Kurdish forces from the region. U.S. forces were reported to have bombed a former headquarters used by allies against ISIS to prevent its use by the Turkish military.