Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna said Sunday on NBC News that despite “mistakes” during the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris deserve “credit” for ending the war.
Gold Star families gathered at Arlington Cemetery on Monday to honor the 13 service members killed outside Kabul International Airport during the withdrawal. On “Meet the Press,” Khanna told host Kristen Welker that Harris is proud of her “record” on the Afghanistan withdrawal after the host pressed him over her responsibility for the deaths that occurred.
“There were recommendations that troops should still be stationed there. Do you believe she bears some of the responsibility for some of those key decisions that were made that did lead to that withdrawal which we all witnessed which by all accounts, including Biden Administration acknowledging, was botched?” Welker asked.
“I think she is proud of the Biden-Harris record. She deserves credit for ending the war and to the extent that there were mistakes made, of course, she is part of that administration. But you know the difference, Kristen? No one is perfect in government and President Biden’s team himself has acknowledged certain mistakes, but leaders take responsibility and they’re open and they’re honest,” Khanna said.”Yes, there were certain mistakes made but the war was ended. That is the big decision she deserves and President Biden deserves credit for.”
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Both Biden and Harris have faced significant criticism for their roles leading up to the disastrous withdrawal in August 2021. At the time, Biden repeatedly denied being briefed by military leaders who warned against pulling out, leading to conflicting messages from his administration.
This weekend, Harris has been increasingly criticized by gold star families after she condemned Trump for filming at the Arlington Cemetery ceremony, despite her own absence from the event. Eight Gold Star families took to X (formerly known as Twitter) Saturday calling out the vice president for not hearing from her over the last three years and explaining they had invited Trump.
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