Donald Trump has again slammed President Joe Biden over the withdrawal from Afghanistan, denouncing him for pulling troops out before US citizens and military hardware were safely removed.
'I don't think our country has ever seen a period like this, how badly were doing, and then you take a look at the border. And worst of all is what took place in Afghanistan,' Trump said in a phone interview with right-wing cable channel Newsmax on Tuesday.
'That withdrawal, was the most incompetently handled withdrawal or anything else in the history of our country,' he continued. 'We're embarrassed in front of the world.'
It comes as Trump increasingly appears to be laying the groundwork for a campaign in 2024, blasting out statements to reporters on Tuesday announcing a rally at the politically important Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines and falsely claiming 15 million mail-in ballots went missing in the last election.
Donald Trump has again slammed President Joe Biden over the withdrawal from Afghanistan, denouncing him for pulling troops out before US citizens and hardware were safe
'That withdrawal, was the most incompetently handled withdrawal or anything else in the history of our country,' said Trump. 'We're embarrassed in front of the world.'
In the Newsmax interview, Trump also pointed to an Emerson College poll showing that he leads Biden 47 percent to 46 percent in a hypothetical matchup of 2024 presidential nominees.
He again repeated his unproven claims that he beat Biden in the 2020 election.
'Well I beat him in 2020. I mean, I think we won the election by a lot. I don’t even think. You look at the numbers and you look at what happened on that incredible, fateful period of time because it’s unfortunately not a one-day vote,' said Trump.
Perhaps sensing a political opening in the massive public dismay over the situation in Afghanistan, Trump hammered on the subject throughout the interview.
'Look at what happened in Afghanistan,' he said. 'And now it was just revealed today that they didn't vet the people. They didn't vet any of these people coming out. They're vetting them now they're already out.'
'There's never been anything like this between the the killing of our young people, our young great people and by the way other people,' he said in an apparent reference to the August 26 Kabul airport suicide bomb that killed 13 US service personnel. 'There's never been a greater embarrassment than we've suffered this last week.'
'Can you imagine getting the military out, before you get your citizens, American people out?' Trump continued. 'They took the military out first. We would have taken it out last.'
Taliban fighters are seen with US equipment after taking over Hamid Karzai International Airport. Trump appears to feel that fury over the withdrawal could fuel his political fortunes
Trump also slammed the loss of US military equipment to the Taliban, inflating his already overstated claim of $85 billion worth of equipment to $850 billion.
'Brand new Apache, the most incredible weapon you've ever seen, the Apache helicopters, brand new – brand new out of the box, as they say – and they got 'em,' said Trump.
'Now they have one of the best-equipped armies in the world, can you believe it?' Trump said. 'From having knives to having the best planes and tanks and trucks.
'Why didn't we take it out? It's not even conceivable we didn't take this stuff out.
'We left them airplanes, helicopters, why didn't we fly that stuff out? Billions of dollars.'
Meanwhile Trump advisors are talking up his growing interest in a bid to recapture the White House – now that Biden's approval ratings are experiencing a drop after the controversial pullout from Afghanistan and spiking coronavirus cases.
Former campaign spokesman Jason Miller called a Trump re-run a near certainty in comments last week to Cheddar.
Trump advisors are talking up his growing interest in a bid to recapture the White House – now that Biden's approval ratings are experiencing a drop
'I would say somewhere between 99 and 100 percent. I think he is definitely running in 2024,' Miller said.
'I had a good conversation with him last night. I'm going to go see him in another couple days here.'
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a firm Trump ally, has said that Trump was not in a hurry to announce because 'the base is rightly loyal to him. And a good rule in politics is to be a candidate for as short a time as necessary.'
Another Trump loyalist, Rep. Jim Jordan - who spoke to Trump the day of the deadly Capitol riot on January 6 - was captured on video last week saying 'I know so' when asked if Trump would run again.
'I talked to him yesterday. He's about ready to announce after all of this craziness in Afghanistan,' Jordan said.
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