Vice President Kamala Harris has finally broken her silence about the debacle in Afghanistan after she was asked about the situation there alongside Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Harris was asked about her thoughts about what went wrong with the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was led by the Joe Biden administration.
“So, I understand and appreciate why you asked the question,” Harris replied, according to Fox News [1]. “And I think there’s going to be plenty of time to analyze what has happened and what has taken place in the context of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. But right now, we are singularly focused on evacuating American citizens, Afghans who worked with us, and Afghans who are vulnerable, including women and children.”
The vice president went on to say that “we have a responsibility and we feel a deep commitment to making sure that folks who helped us are safe.”
Harris then heaped praise on Biden for having “shown great emotion in expressing sadness about some of the images we have seen,” before doubling down in saying that the U.S. cannot be “distracted in any way from what must be our primary mission right now, which is evacuating people from that region who deserve to be evacuated.”
Harris was later asked if she personally agreed with the steps that were taken with the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. She responded by deflecting once again, saying that “there will be and should be a robust analysis of what has happened.” Harris then repeated that “right now, there is no question that our focus has to be on evacuating American citizens.”
Lee was asked by reporters how the Afghanistan disaster will impact American credibility and how the U.S. is viewed moving forward.
“What will influence perceptions of U.S. resolve and commitment to the region will be what the U.S. does going forward: how it repositions itself in the region, how it engages its broad range of friends and partners and allies in the region, and how it continues the fight against terrorism,” Lee said.
“Countries make calculations and take positions, and they have to make recalculations and adjust their positions from time to time,” he added. “Sometimes it can be done smoothly; sometimes there are hiccups. Sometimes things go awry and take time to put right.”
Biden has been widely panned for his handling of the Afghanistan crisis by people on both sides of the aisle, with even many Democrats having a difficult time defending him for what he has done. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) spoke out on Monday to demand that Biden resign immediately for what he’s done in Afghanistan, according to Fox News [2].
“President Joseph R. Biden has abdicated his responsibility and duties entrusted to him as President of the United States. This blatant abdication of his office is grounds for President Biden to resign immediately,” Donalds said.
“It has become clear that President Biden has lost complete and total confidence of the American people through his haphazard decision to withdraw from Afghanistan,” he continued. “This botched withdrawal is currently threatening the lives of our servicemen and women, the stability in the region, and our integrity on the global stage.”