Story at a glance
- Pompeo said the administration failed in its withdrawal from Afghanistan and ignored foreign policy issues to focus on issues like climate change and critical race theory.
- “Weak American leadership always harms American security,” Pompeo told Fox News’ host Chris Wallace.
- President Biden on Saturday released a statement blaming the Trump administration’s deal with the Taliban in 2020, saying it “left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001,” and left him with few choices.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday slammed the Biden administration over the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, suggesting the administration’s focus on hot-button issues such as climate change and critical race theory played a role in the failure.
During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Pompeo said the administration failed in its withdrawal from Afghanistan and ignored foreign policy issues to focus on issues like climate change and critical race theory.
“Weak American leadership always harms American security,” Pompeo told Fox News’ host Chris Wallace.
“So this is in the context of the Biden administration that has basically abandoned the global stage in favor of climate change,” Pompeo said.
“They’ve been focused on critical race theory while the embassy is at risk. That didn’t happen during our four years. I do think there’s a real risk here,” he said.
Biden on Saturday released a statement blaming the Trump administration’s deal with the Taliban in 2020, saying it “left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001,” and left him with few choices.
“When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor — which he invited the Taliban to discuss at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 of 2019,” Biden said in a statement.
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“He also drew U.S. forces down to a bare minimum of 2,500. Therefore, when I became President, I faced a choice—follow through on the deal, with a brief extension to get our Forces and our allies’ Forces out safely, or ramp up our presence and send more American troops to fight once again in another country’s civil conflict,” Biden said.
Pompeo oversaw negotiations with the Taliban during the Trump administration, which resulted in an agreement to withdraw American troops by May 1.
Pompeo pushed back against Biden’s blaming of his predecessor, arguing that the Taliban was under control when troops were reduced last year while former President Trump was still in office.
“It’s worth noting that this did not happen on our watch,” Pompeo said.
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