Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign has tried to blame former President Donald Trump for her and President Joe Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan — even though the withdrawal occurred seven months after Trump left office.
The Harris-Waltz campaign released a statement Friday, arguing that “Trump left the Biden-Harris Administration with no plan for an orderly withdrawal, only a dangerous and costly mess.”
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at Throwback Brewery in Northampton, New Hampshire, on September 4, 2024. (Kylie Cooper for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
President Trump began negotiations with the Taliban and reached an agreement, but no deal had been reached by the time he left office in January 2020. President Biden, against the advice of his military advisors, decided to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan in September 2021, which prompted the Taliban to invade Kabul and overthrow the U.S.-backed government in a surprise attack in late August 2021. The sudden seizure of power caused mass panic and chaos, leading to a hasty withdrawal of hundreds of thousands of Americans, foreign civilians, and desperate Afghans.
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Donald J. Trump / Truth Social
At the time, U.S. troops remaining in Kabul, and several hundred more who had flown in, were surrounded by the Taliban and ordered to withdraw from their makeshift redoubt at Kabul International Airport and carry out a large-scale evacuation of civilians under extremely tense and dangerous circumstances.
On the final day of the evacuation, a suicide bomber entered the crowds surrounding the airport, killing 13 US soldiers. A US commander ordered a drone strike before departure that mistakenly killed humanitarian workers, their families and children.
The Biden administration has not held anyone accountable for the botched withdrawal, which was broadcast on television screens around the world, and President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have said they have no regrets.
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After President Trump recently attended a ceremony honoring 13 Americans killed and wounded in combat, the Harris-Waltz campaign claimed he was trying to politicize the tragic withdrawal, even though the families had invited him to the ceremony and allowed him to film it. The families of the fallen soldiers then issued a statement slamming the Harris-Waltz campaign for their criticism.
Darin Taylor Hoover's grandfather, Bill Barnett, left, and former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in memory of Staff Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Nevertheless, Morgan Finkelstein, national security spokesman for Harris Waltz 2024, said in a statement that “Mr. Trump is shamelessly attacking the Vice President in an attempt to help the American people forget that his actions have undermined American strategy and put our troops and allies at risk.”
Axios reporters said some Republicans believe Trump made a “bad deal” with the Taliban, but that the Biden-Harris administration “will discuss options to change the deal, [with] “It's Biden's plan.”
National security expert Rebecca Heinrichs posted on X about Harris trying to gaslight the public:This is insanity. Biden and Harris Defended decisions and processes that had disastrous consequences Afghanistan WithdrawalElection officials are not going to let the American people accept this.”
Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller reminded the public that Biden had boasted that Harris was “the last person in the room” when he made the decision to withdraw U.S. troops.
