Poll: Americans Blame Biden, Not Trump, For Afghanistan Fallout

As the Biden administration continues to parrot the narrative blaming the former Trump administration for the unfolding  Afghanistan fiasco, more Americans believe otherwise.

A recent survey done by the Daily Wire found that more Americans think that the sweeping takeover of Taliban forces in Afghanistan is President Joe Biden’s fault —  not former President Donald Trump’s.

The poll conducted among 1,066 Americans had 36% saying they believe that Biden is responsible for the current debacle in Afghanistan compared to a lesser 21% saying former Republican President Trump is to blame. 

Meanwhile, 29% of Americans said what’s happening in Afghanistan is neither Trump nor Biden’s fault.

Independents are twice as likely to blame Biden than Trump for the debacle, according to the report.

The Biden Administration has attempted to deflect blame for the fall-out in Afghanistan, but Americans aren’t buying it,” the Daily Wire said.

In his national address —  which lasted about 20 minutes —  Biden said he stands “squarely behind” his decision to exit Afghanistan as he pointed the blame on the collapse of Kabul to US-trained Afghan forces who he claimed are not willing to fight for their own country.

He also pointed finger at the Trump administration claiming that it was his predecessor’s deal that forced him into pulling US troops in Afghanistan.

“When I came into office, I inherited a deal that President Trump negotiated with the Taliban. Under his agreement, US forces would be out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021 – just a little over three months after I took office,” Biden said then. 

“US forces had already drawn down during the Trump administration from roughly 15,500 American forces to 2,500 troops in [the] country, and the Taliban was at its strongest military since 2001,” he added.

“The choice I had to make, as your president, was either to follow through on that agreement, or go back to fighting the Taliban,” Biden continued, noting that not following through with the agreement would risk “escalating the conflict and sending thousands more US forces lurching back into the third decade of conflict.”

Biden says even without Trump, US forces would still be withdrawn

But a few days after his speech, Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopolous that he would have withdrawn the American troops either way. 

Stephanopolous asked Biden: “So would you have withdrawn troops like this even if President Trump had not made that deal with the Taliban?” 

To which Biden replied: “I would’ve tried to figure out how to withdraw those troops, yes, because look, George. There is no good time to leave Afghanistan. Fifteen years ago would’ve been a problem, 15 years from now. The basic choice is, am I gonna send your sons and your daughters to war in Afghanistan in perpetuity?”

Former President Trump has maintained that Biden didn’t follow through with how his administration planned the Afghanistan exit.

“Joe Biden gets it wrong every time on foreign policy, and many other issues …” Trump said. “He ran out of Afghanistan instead of following the plan our Administration left for him — a plan that protected our people and our property, and ensured the Taliban would never dream of taking our Embassy or providing a base for new attacks against America. The withdrawal would be guided by facts on the ground.”

Trump also slammed Biden’s “weakness, incompetence” which allowed the Taliban to take over Afghanistan with little to no resistance.

Trump also dubbed the way America left Afghanistan as “grossly incompentent.”

Biden’s approval rating drops due to Afghanistan issue

Meanwhile, the same survey found that Biden’s approval rating continued to plummet.

It said the Democratic president’s approval rating was at 47%, just two points higher than his disapproval rating — and it showed a five-point decline in his rating — adding that a month ago, before Afghanistan fell into Taliban forces, Biden was averaging a job approval rating of 52% and a disapproval rating of 43%, according to RealClearPolitics.

The report said most Americans are concerned about the consequences for Afghan women and girls, as well as Afghan allies, following the US withdrawal of troops in the country.

The survey revealed that 84% of Americans say they are “concerned about the consequences for Afghan women and girls,” another 63% saying these consequences “extremely concerning,” and another 81% sounding concerned about the “persecution of Afghans who helped American troops and officials.” 

Earlier this week, a Trafalgar Group survey also found that a large majority of Americans  disapprove of Biden’s handling of US Afghanistan operations, which recently saw the fall of the country to Taliban forces, 20 years and trillions of dollars after the US launched its longest war in the country.

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Steeve Strange

Steeve is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Scoop.