In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Donald Trump said, “The Obama administration was actively supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq, the terrorist group that became the Islamic State.”
U.S. efforts to court “moderate” opponents of Assad may have benefited other Islamic extremist groups such as al Nusra, but any such benefits were an unintended consequence of U.S. policy, not a goal of that policy itself.
That’s different from the argument made by Trump – that the U.S. was actively supporting ISIS or its predecessors. In fact, experts say that assertion is flat wrong. The implication that the Obama administration was actively helping the United States’ enemies is ridiculous. It has always been U.S. policy to oppose AQI and ISIS, and the United States has aggressively fought the group for years.
We rate Trump’s assertion Pants on Fire.
To read the full fact check, go to www.politifact.com.