Republican lawmakers are waiting for the Trump administration to shift its stance on the removal of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in the wake of a deadly chemical attack there on Tuesday that killed dozens of civilians.

President Trump harshly condemned the attack Wednesday and said that his attitude toward Assad has "changed very much," suggesting a potential pivot from the administration's position on the regime just days before. The White House said last week that Assad's rule remained a "political reality," and that it would prioritize fighting the Islamic State. Around the same time, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Assad's future "will be decided by the Syrian people."

That position angered Republicans, including Arizona senator John McCain, a prominent critic of the Obama administration's Syria policy. McCain condemned Tillerson's remarks early Tuesday after the chemical attack and referred to Trump's Syria strategy as "another disgraceful chapter in American history."

But McCain and Republican ally Senator Lindsey Graham held a lengthy meeting with Tillerson that same day, and the Arizona lawmaker struck a softer tone on Wednesday.

"I talked to Secretary Tillerson last night and he believes that that was not the intent of his words," McCain told reporters. Asked what Tillerson meant to say, McCain told THE WEEKLY STANDARD: "That the Syrian people need to have a better government and a different government."

"He said to me that he realizes that we have got to take actions against these elements that are committing war crimes as we speak," he later added.

Asked whether he could see the Trump administration calling for Assad's removal, McCain told TWS, "Sure. I could see it."

The president was deeply angered by the chemical attack, he said.

"The president is very angry," McCain said. "He's appalled."

Trump's anger shone through in his statement yesterday, McCain stated. He added that the statement's rebuke of the Obama administration was justified.

"Barack Obama is directly responsible for this—I say, directly," he said. "Saying nothing is bad, saying you're going to do something and doing nothing is 10 times worse."

Trump condemned the attack as "a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution" in his Tuesday statement.

Despite the shift in McCain's tenor, Graham maintained harsh criticism of Tillerson's remarks from last week.

"What Secretary Tillerson said is absolutely the worst possible position you can take," he told reporters Wednesday. "The whole concept that maybe [Assad] can stay is just a non-starter."

He praised Tillerson's statement on Tuesday that denounced Assad and the regime's allies, Russia and Iran, for the chemical weapons attack. But, Graham said, the administration must make Assad's removal a priority.

"There is a mixed message about whether he should stay or go," Graham said. "I'd like the Trump administration to be definitive about this. I don't want any nuances about Assad."

"The test for me is, are they going to clearly say to the world, not just to the American people, that Assad's got to go?"

As to U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley's statement last Thursday that the administration will not focus on removing Assad at the expense of other foreign policy priorities, Graham suggested she was following orders from the president.

"She is sort-of following the boss there," he said.

On Wednesday, Haley threatened that the United States may take action against Assad if the international body failed to.

Florida senator Marco Rubio condemned Tillerson's remarks the same day. He suggested that those comments, unknowingly and unintentionally, encouraged Assad to carry out the attacks.

"It's my belief that if you're Bashar al-Assad and you read that it is no longer a priority of the United States to have you removed from power, I believe that that is an incentive to act with impunity," he said during a press conference on Assad's war crimes.

Other Republicans, including Arkansas senator Tom Cotton, were quick to call for Assad's removal after the attack.

"It is time for a stronger Syria policy, one that holds the Assad government, Russia, and Iran accountable for their brutality," Cotton said in a statement. "That policy begins with demanding Assad's departure from Syria."