Harris Campaign Attacks Trump Over 2020 Taliban Deal in Response to His Criticism of Afghanistan Withdrawal

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is warming to an anchor on former President Donald Trump’s 2020 deal with the Taliban. The Republican nominee has repeatedly criticized her for the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in President Biden’s first year in office.

August 26 marked three years since the suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, in which 13 U.S. soldiers were killed, 18 wounded, and approximately 170 Afghans lost their lives.

During the speech in Detroit celebrates this dayTrump blamed both Harris and Biden for the “humiliation in Afghanistan.”

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

The campaign says 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 is brazenly attacking the vice president because he hopes to fool the country into forgetting that his own actions are putting the military in danger,” Harris’ national security spokesman Morgan Finkelstein told CBS News. “Trump wanted to bring the Taliban to Camp David just days before 9/11 — think about that. He made a bad deal with the same people who brutally took over Afghanistan and brought down the Afghan government.”

On September 7, 2019, Trump tweeted that the meeting with the Taliban had been canceled after an American soldier was killed in an attack by the terrorist group. Months later, in February 2020Trump signed an agreement with the Taliban that was to allow for a significant reduction in U.S. troops in Afghanistan by the end of the year, in exchange for guarantees from the Taliban that the country would not be used for terrorist activities.

But Taliban attacks on Afghan forces continued, with Trump’s former national security adviser HR McMaster calling the deal a “surrender agreement with the Taliban” during a podcast interview.

CBS News reached out to the Trump campaign for a response to the Harris campaign’s criticism.

The Kabul airport attack came amid efforts by Mr. Biden to evacuate American troops and Afghans from Afghanistan, part of a long-standing goal he shared with Mr. Trump to officially end the long-running war. House Republicans are I am currently researching Biden administration withdrawal.

Mr Biden has criticised Mr Trump’s deal with the Taliban but has kept his word, extending the withdrawal deadline by several months so that troops can leave the country by September 11, 2021, a move aimed at preventing further escalation of hostilities in the country.

“It may not be something I would have negotiated myself, but it was an agreement made by the United States government, and that means something,” Mr. Biden said in April 2021.

Many respondents in CBS News August 2021 poll believes the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan went “very badly” and the timing marked the beginning of a steady decline in Mr Biden’s support.

In recent weeks, Trump inclined to greater criticism Mr. Biden and Harris on the attack and troop withdrawal.

In late August, Trump was invited to Arlington National Cemetery by family members of some of the soldiers for a wreath-laying ceremony. The visit was overshadowed by quarrel between a cemetery employee and the Trump campaign over the presence of a campaign photographer. The families have given permission for entry, but federal cemetery law prohibits it.

That same day, during a speech at the National Guard Association conference in Detroit, Trump called on Biden administration officials involved in the troop withdrawal to resign.

“It’s unbelievable how stupid these people were to let this happen to our country. We became a laughing stock around the world and buried 13 soldiers,” he added.

In a statement released that day, Ms Harris reaffirmed her support for Mr Biden’s decision to end the war and said the 13 deceased soldiers “represent the best of America, putting our beloved nation and their countrymen before themselves and going into harm’s way to keep their fellow citizens safe”.

Before becoming vice president, Harris supported withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan and ending the war. In April 2021, she said she was the last person Mr. Biden consulted before the president decided to withdraw all remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

In August 2021, as the chaotic troop withdrawal began, Harris emphasized the focus should be on evacuating American and Afghan citizens, working with the United States

“There is no doubt that there will be and should be a solid analysis of what happened,” she said. when traveling to Singapore in 2021.

Jacob Rosen

contributed to this report.