Former President Donald Trump sought to remind voters on Monday what Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden failed to do in Afghanistan.
Trump focused on the third anniversary of the ISIS-K suicide attack in Afghanistan that killed 13 US soldiers.
“As vice president, Kamala boasted that she was the last person in the room, she was the tough one, she was the last person in the room during that disastrous decision to withdraw from Afghanistan,” Trump said at an event on Monday.
During the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Harris limited her public appearances for several days and refrained from speaking with Biden about the crisis on August 18.
At the time, White House officials told reporters that Harris would stand next to Biden, but at the last minute she decided against that idea, preferring to listen to the speech from an adjoining room instead.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrives in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, Monday, August 16, 2021, to deliver remarks on Afghanistan
The only images of Harris throughout the crisis were photographs and statements carefully posted on social media through a pre-approved process.
It was an eerie reaction from the vice president who had boasted in April of that year that she was the “last person in the room” when President Biden made his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
“This is a president who has extraordinary courage,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash, reiterating that she agreed with Biden’s decision to withdraw troops from the country.
It was later revealed that in August, as the Taliban rapidly took control of Afghanistan, Harris spent three days filming a YouTube video about space with child actors.
Harris resurfaced on August 20, standing masked with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan as President Joe Biden delivered another speech on Afghanistan.
US President Joe Biden (centre) with (from left) Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan,
President Joe Biden speaks about the evacuation of American citizens and their families
On August 22, she left Washington, DC, for Singapore, finally breaking her silence on the issue.
As reporters shouted questions on the tarmac before her departure, Harris began to laugh and then claimed that the administration was taking the issue seriously.
“We couldn’t have a higher priority right now,” she said, even though she left the country to focus on Singapore.
Harris also defended Biden’s handling of the disaster during an August 23 press conference, focusing on his public response to the images of unfolding chaos.
Harris dodged a question about her support for Biden’s plans to withdraw from the country, focusing instead on the president’s immediate response.
This image from a video released by the Department of Defense shows U.S. Marines at Abbey Gate before a suicide bomber struck outside Hamid Karzai International Airport.
“I think the president showed great emotion in expressing his sadness at some of the images we’ve seen,” she said.
On August 26, a suicide bomb was detonated at Kabul airport, killing 13 American soldiers.
Harris responded with a statement but did not publicly address the attack.
During her trip home, she hosted an event with US soldiers in Hawaii, which was not open to the press.
After returning to Washington DC, she ignored the reporters’ loud questions
In a statement released Monday morning, Harris acknowledged the third anniversary of the Kabul airport bombing.
“On this solemn day, let us come together as one nation to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the United States and the freedoms we love three years ago,” the statement said. “In their memory, let us rededicate ourselves to the cause for which they gave their lives: protecting and defending the greatest democracy on earth, the United States of America.”
