President Joe Biden is receiving a wave of blowback for the administration's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. While failing to prevent a Taliban takeover, as the president promised, Biden also refused to take responsibility for the obvious failure to withdraw effectively. The president's long-delayed speech addressing the crisis was given an "F" rating by an overwhelming majority of Republicans and Independents, GOP pollster Lee Carter told Fox News on Tuesday.
"For the most part, when Biden speaks, they give him the benefit of the doubt. In this case, while they did give him some credit for what he said, they were really disappointed overall with the message," Carter said, per Fox News.
Leaving Afghanistan was not the primary issue for voters, Carter said, but rather the botched approach by the president. The GOP pollster said that one Independent voter said that instead of using an effective strategy, Biden "pulled out the troops in this way and put them in harm's way."
Likewise, Biden claimed in his speech that "the buck stops with him," after spending many minutes placing blame on the Afghanistan military, former President Donald Trump, the Afghan government, and even the Afghan people. He spent minimal time condemning the Taliban.
Even before the president delivered a tone-deaf speech addressing his Afghanistan response, Americans already disapproved of the administration's approach.
#AfghanistanCrisis - 69.3% of Americans Disapprove of #Biden’s handling of #Afghanistan military operations - according to @trafalgar_group & @COSProject #Poll of likely ‘22 voters conducted 8/14-8/15 See Report: https://t.co/vwQzmJ8IOq pic.twitter.com/0qOieoMenl
— Robert C. Cahaly (@RobertCahaly) August 16, 2021
