Donald Trump’s international approval rating is pretty dismal, but he does have at least one pocket of fans abroad—and no, it isn’t in Russia or Israel. During Samantha Bee’s visit to Iraq, the Full Frontal host found that the U.S. president enjoys a high popularity rating among the Kurds, a Middle Eastern ethnic group who live, for the most part, in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria. Bee spoke to musicians, shop owners, and at least one couple who have taken to calling their baby son “Trump,” all to figure out: Why on earth is an Islamophobic American president so well-liked among this particular group?
The explanations vary. “[Trump’s] decisions are not one dimensional,” said one Kurdish man. “He has done many beautiful things,” said another. But finally, Bee gets to the heart of the matter: “He gives arms and tanks to the Kurds in Syria.” Trump is the first U.S. president to openly and directly arm the Kurdish people as part of the fight against ISIS in Syria (a move the Obama administration was considering, but did not enact, in 2016). Some of the people Bee spoke to even believe Trump will be the key to a free and independent Kurdistan.
It was, as Bee herself noted, the first and probably last Full Frontal field piece that had an overall positive outlook on Trump. As for the president’s less-desirable qualities, the Kurds seem to take an affectionate view of them: “Trump is crazy, but he gets the job done with that craziness.”
