Some media pundits and one comedy host suggested Friday night that President Donald Trump ’s decision to launch military strikes in Syria could be driven in part by his desire to distract America from the mounting scandals plaguing his White House. On MSNBC, host Rachel Maddow noted more seriously that, regardless of the president’s true motivations, many may perceive the strikes as a deliberate distraction from his domestic problems. “It is worth considering on a night like tonight that there are national security consequences to having a presidency that is as chaotic as Mr. Trump’s presidency, a presidency that is as consumed by scandal and criminal intrigue as his presidency is,” Maddow told viewers on Friday following Trump’s announcement. The “perception that the president may have made these strikes in part because of scandal will affect the impact and the effectiveness of these military strikes — unavoidably,” Maddow added. “It is a sad thing and it is an upsetting thing in terms of American influence in the world and the risks that we take when we use American military power anywhere.”CNN’s Ana Navarro walked the line of both questioning Trump’s motivations and railing against a chemical weapons attack on a civilian population.

Source: Huffington Post April 14, 2018 05:23 UTC