… As U.S vows to protect its people and interest, worldwide***
President Donald Trump has come under criticism on Twitter following his tweet on the reported rescue of an American citizen by U.S. special forces in Nigeria on Saturday morning.
Shortly after news of the rescue broke, Trump took to his Twitter handle to celebrate, saluting “the courageous soldiers behind the daring nighttime rescue operation”.
“Last night, our Country’s brave warriors rescued an American hostage in Nigeria.
“Our Nation salutes the courageous soldiers behind the daring nighttime rescue operation and celebrates the safe return of yet another American citizen!”, the post reads.
Within minutes, the tweet attracted thousands of reactions with the president’s critics slamming him for allegedly failing to save over 230,000 American lives so far claimed by COVID-19.
“Brave indeed. They volunteered to fight for their country,” replied a follower by the name, Vote Trump Out.
“Shame you couldn’t have saved 200,000 plus lives while you were tweeting,” the follower with the handle @MattTavner, added.
Another critic, Limey McLimeface using the handle @mclimeface, suggested that Trump didn’t know about the operation until the media reported it.
“Took you until now to mention it, you probably only just heard of it, because you’re too busy on your farewell tour, you haven’t done any work in weeks,” McLimeface said.
An American psychologist, Jeffrey Guterman, using the verified account, @JefferyGuterman, called the president “a mass murderer” for spreading the virus with his non-socially-distant campaign rallies.
Also read: US to extend bilateral agreements with Israel into Judea and Samaria, Golan
Guterman shared a Stanford University study, which concluded that 18 rallies addressed by Trump resulted in no fewer than 30,000 “incremental confirmed cases of COVID-19”.
According to the study, conducted by Douglas Bernheim, Nina Buchmann and Zach Freitas-Groff of the Department of Economics, the rallies “likely led to more than 700 deaths”.
“Congratulations, you made America Great Again!,” said Alex Haditaghi,a Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist.
“U.S. reports world record of more than 100,000 COVID-19 cases in a single day. Coronavirus deaths in U.S. yesterday: 1,031
“Deaths over last seven days: 6,579. Deaths so far: 230,000. COVID-19 Infections in U.S. 9,300,000,” Haditaghi said.
To one Lewis Silberman, the operation was timed to aid the president’s reflection bid.
The president has always defended his administration’s response to the pandemic, arguing that nothing could be done better.
David Wohl, an American actor and supporter of the president, defended him in his reaction to the tweet, suggesting that the rescue operation was making Democrats angry.
“They hate to see Trump succeed and would rather have Americans remain hostages. Real Americans, however, are grateful to Trump and #SealTeam6”, he said.
One Lisa Whitehead replied him, saying it would be “really fantastic if he would quit killing Americans here in the USA!!”.
“Maybe the SEAL team can help him with that, maybe they could stand outside his rallies and make people mask up!!!”, Whitehead added.
In the meantime, the United States government has vowed to continue to protect the American people and their interests anywhere in the world.
The reassurance followed the rescue operation of one of its nationals who was held hostage by a group of armed men across the Niger border with Nigeria, on Oct. 31.
U.S Secretary of State Michael Pompeo disclosed this in a statement on Saturday as he reaffirmed the commitments of the U.S government in the safe return of all its citizens held captive.
Pompeo said that the U.S will never abandon any of its citizens taken hostage.
“The United States is committed to the safe return of all U.S. citizens taken captive.
“We delivered on that commitment late last night in Nigeria, where some of our bravest and most skilled warriors rescued a U.S. citizen after a group of armed men took him hostage across the border in Niger.
“Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our military, the support of our intelligence professionals, and our diplomatic efforts, the hostage will be reunited with his family.
“We will never abandon any American taken hostage.
Mr Jonathan Hoffman, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs in another statement said that the rescued American is safe and in the care of the U.S Department of State
Hoffman added that no military personnel was injured in the rescue operation conducted in the early hours of Oct. 31 in Niger border with northern Nigeria.
“U.S. forces conducted a hostage rescue operation during the early hours of 31 October in Northern Nigeria to recover an American citizen held hostage by a group of armed men.
“This American citizen is safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State. No U.S military personnel were injured during the operation.
“We appreciate the support of our international partners in conducting this operation.
The United States will continue to protect our people and our interests anywhere in the world,” Hoffman said