Kamala Harris’s campaign placed the blame on Donald Trump for the chaotic 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, which took place during the first year of the Biden-Harris administration.

Morgan Finkelstein, the National Security Spokesperson for the Harris-Walz Campaign, stated, “Trump shamelessly attacks the Vice President because he hopes he can trick the country into forgetting that his own actions undermined US strategy and put our troops and allies in harm’s way. Trump wanted to bring the Taliban to Camp David just days before September 11th—think about that.”

In a new statement, Harris’ campaign argues that “Trump’s chaotic actions led to catastrophic consequences in Afghanistan.”

Some R’s agree that Trump cut a bad deal with the Taliban but the new Biden admin debated options on trying to change the deal and went w/ Biden’s plan pic.twitter.com/efMkCj4TmX

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) September 7, 2024

Finkelstein continued, “He cut a bad deal with the very same people who violently took over Afghanistan, leading to the collapse of the Afghan government. Trump’s chaotic actions led to catastrophic consequences in Afghanistan. His own former national security advisor agrees: Trump cannot be trusted to safeguard our national security or serve as the commander-in-chief of our armed forces.”

Meanwhile, Jason Miller, a Trump campaign advisor, pointed out that Harris has previously claimed to have been “the last person in the room” with Biden when the decision to withdraw was made.

In April 2021, President Biden announced that the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan would begin on May 1. As the U.S. forces prepared to leave, the Taliban swiftly took control of Kabul. On August 26, 2021, 13 U.S. service members lost their lives in a bombing at Abbey Gate in Kabul. By August 30, U.S. officials declared that the last military aircraft had departed from Kabul, although a “very low hundreds” of American citizens remained in the country.

Kamala Harris was the last person in the room when the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan was ordered, leading to 13 American service members being killed. Harris bragged about her role on-camera. pic.twitter.com/jGEWx68pff

— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) August 26, 2024

In August 2021 it was found that the Biden administration had halted a contingency plan from the Trump era that was meant to facilitate rapid evacuations of Americans from crisis areas. The “Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau” was intended to manage medical, diplomatic, and logistical support for Americans overseas. Earlier in 2021, the State Department paused the bureau, with the official notification being signed just months before the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan.

As reported by Breitbart, Trump had negotiated a deal with the Taliban, but the agreement was incomplete when he left office in January 2020. President Biden then chose to proceed with the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, against the recommendations of his military advisors.