Senator John McCain said on CBS’ Face the Nation this morning that some of the rhetoric from members of the Trump administration “probably was partially to blame” for the chemical attack in Syria this week.

Rex Tillerson––who also appeared on Face the Nation today––said before the attack that he believes “the status and the longer-term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people.”

John Dickerson asked McCain, “Do you think the administration did anything to encourage this behavior by the Syrians by saying that the Syrian people would determine Assad’s fate and that removing him is not a priority?”

McCain said, “I think it probably was partially to blame.”

Senator Marco Rubio made similar remarks a few days ago, saying it wasn’t a coincidence Assad carried out the attack after Tillerson’s comments.

You can watch the segment above, via CBS.

[image via screengrab]

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