Harris campaign hits Trump on 2020 Taliban deal in response to his criticism of Afghanistan withdrawal

The Republican contender has continuously attacked Vice President Kamala Harris for the disorganised withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan during President Biden’s first year in office, and her campaign is revisiting former President Donald Trump’s 2020 agreement with the Taliban.

Three years have passed since the August 26 suicide bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Approximately 170 Afghans and 13 US service members were killed in the incident, which also left 18 people injured.

Trump blamed Mr. Biden and Senator Harris for the “humiliation in Afghanistan” during a commemorative address in Detroit on this day.

In a response first shared with CBS News, Harris’ campaign is using Trump’s announcement, and abrupt cancellation, five years ago of a meeting at Camp David with Taliban leaders, to highlight the role his deal with the Taliban played in the withdrawal.

The campaign argues that Trump’s deal created a “virtually impossible” deadline and left “the Biden-Harris administration with zero plans for an orderly withdrawal — only a dangerous, costly mess.”

Trump criticises the vice president without remorse because he wants to fool the people into thinking that he didn’t put troops in danger with his own actions, national security spokesman for the Harris campaign Morgan Finkelstein told CBS News. Just a few days before September 11th, Trump sought to welcome the Taliban to Camp David. Take that into consideration. He made a poor bargain with the same individuals who overthrew the Afghan government and did it violently.”

Trump said via Twitter on September 7, 2019, that a meeting with the Taliban had been postponed due to the terrorist group’s strike killing a U.S. soldier. A few months later, in February 2020, Trump and the Taliban negotiated a deal that cleared the way for a sizable withdrawal of American forces. in Afghanistan by the end of that year, in exchange for guarantees from the Taliban that the country would not be used for terrorist activities.

In a statement that day, Harris reaffirmed her support for Mr. Biden’s decision to end the war and wrote that the 13 deceased service members “represent the best of America, putting our beloved nation and their fellow Americans above themselves and deploying into danger to keep their fellow citizens safe.”

Before becoming vice president, Harris had supported a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and an end to the war. In April 2021, she said she was the last person Mr. Biden consulted with before the president decided to withdraw all remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

As the chaotic withdrawal unfolded in August 2021, Harris emphasized the focus on evacuating American citizens and Afghans working with the U.S.

“There’s no question there will be and should be a robust analysis of what has happened,” she said during a trip to Singapore in 2021.