On Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence declared that ISIS is dead.
“The caliphate has crumbled and [the Islamic State] has been defeated,” Pence told the Global Chiefs of Mission conference at the State Department Wednesday.
Some noted how ill-timed his speech was, considering just hours earlier ISIS terrorists claimed responsibility for an explosion in Manbij, Syria that killed American troops during a routine patrol.
Just hours after a number of U.S. troops were killed in an ISIS-claimed attack, VP Mike Pence tells attendees at the Global Chiefs of Mission conference that "the caliphate has crumbled and ISIS has been defeated." https://t.co/LZiMFcMEpm pic.twitter.com/369ffLH8J4
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 16, 2019
In context with that tragic news, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) had the opposite message.
#ISIS has claimed credit for killing American troops in #Syria today.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 16, 2019
If true, it is a tragic reminder that ISIS not been defeated and is transforming into a dangerous insurgency.
This is no time to retreat from the fight against ISIS. Will only embolden & strenghthen them.
Still, Pence's press secretary insists he had been briefed on the Manbij attack and said their "hearts went out" to the fallen.
.@VP has been briefed on the situation in Syria. He and @POTUS are monitoring the situation. Our hearts go out to the loved ones of the fallen.
— Alyssa Farah (@VPPressSec) January 16, 2019
President Trump has repeatedly declared that his administration has defeated ISIS, including when he announced his unpopular decision to pull U.S. troops from Syria.
We've "defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there," Trump tweeted last month.
"Thanks to the leadership of this commander in chief and the courage and sacrifice of our armed forces, we’re now actually able to begin to hand off the fight against ISIS in Syria to our coalition partners and we’re bringing our troops home,” Pence echoed the commander-in-chief on Wednesday.