President Donald Trump missed an opportunity with the attacks on Syria, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Monday.
"Here’s what happened. If you’re (Syrian President Bashar) Assad, you heard our president saying ‘I’m going to make you pay a big price, you’re an animal.’ And what did Assad see? A military strike that didn’t change his life at all," Graham said Monday on "Fox & Friends."
"Lindsey Graham sees a very conflicted commander in chief…. We missed a real opportunity here to get it right,” Graham said, referring to decisive action against Assad.
Trump on Friday said he ordered the bombing of sites in Syria to retaliate for an "evil and despicable" chemical weapons attack by Assad’s regime.
Graham said the U.S. sent the wrong message with the attack. "We don’t care if you kill people, we only care how you kill them, which is a long way from where Ronald Reagan was. Ronald Reagan believed in shaping history, not just washing your hands of it," Graham said in the "Fox & Friends" interview.
"We can’t afford to give Syria to the Russians and the Iranians," Graham said.
Trump said April 3 that he wanted to pull U.S. troops out of Syria.
"I hear that we’re going out the door and we’re dropping a few bombs on our way out, and that’s an absolute disaster for the region," Graham said.