Former President Donald Trump spoke out this week regarding the situation in Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from the country — and, unsurprisingly, the statement flopped, quickly attracting widespread mockery. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has been gradually taking control of key areas, and Trump insisted that if he was still in office as president, then such would not be happening — although his tenure wasn’t exactly marked by foreign policy successes. For instance, Trump met more than once with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — and North Korea still possesses nuclear weapons. Little that was actually substantive emerged from the meetings. Mostly, the summits were a show.
In his delirious statement regarding the situation in Afghanistan — which it’s simply laughable to suggest he could have handled with some kind of aptitude — Trump also reiterated his false claim that last year’s presidential election was “rigged.” Notably, nowhere in the statement do overly specific policy proposals for taking on the Taliban appear, beyond a single reference to the “conditions-based withdrawal” that Trump claimed would be unfolding if he were in office. There’s a lot that could be added to that, though, and the lack of specifics helps showcase his incompetence.
Trump commented as follows:
‘Had our 2020 Presidential Election not been rigged, and if I were now President, the world would find that our withdrawal from Afghanistan would be a conditions-based withdrawal. I personally had discussions with top Taliban leaders whereby they understood what they are doing now would not have been acceptable. It would have been a much different and much more successful withdrawal, and the Taliban understood that better than anyone. What is going on now is not acceptable. It should have been done much better.’
Read the statement in full by clicking on the post below:
What? pic.twitter.com/UJwZeDt3jJ
— David Freedlander (@freedlander) August 12, 2021
Check out Twitter reactions to Trump’s statement below:
