CNN’s Jim Acosta sunk to a new low during an interview on Monday in which he lashed out at former President Donald Trump for honoring the 13 service members who lost their lives during the Biden administration’s botched military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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While interviewing Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), he suggested Trump was politicizing the service members’ deaths by showing up to place a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery for the victims of the Kabul airport terrorist attack on the anniversary of the tragedy.
Acosta started by bringing up deceptive claims that Trump referred to deceased veterans as “suckers” and “losers.”
“You’re a former army ranger. Is he politicizing these soldiers’ deaths? Should he even be at Arlington National Cemetery if he’s going to make some politics out of this?” Acosta asked the lawmaker.
Crow responded, lamely defending President Joe Biden’s handling of the withdrawal.
Well, I also mourn the death of those 13 service members. Every death of a service member is a tragedy. At the same time, I mourn the deaths of the over 2,400 service members who died during the 20 years we were at war. I just look at President Biden under whose leadership we actually ended and made the tough decision to end our nation’s longest war. It became very clear to me years ago that this war was not winnable through military means. Sitting here today, we are honoring the death of those who died in service to our country. At the same time, we are not at war in Afghanistan, and that was the right decision by President Biden.
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During his visit, Trump walked down the steps with the family members of the victims. Yet, he did not mention anything political during the visit.
The former president did slam the Biden administration in a post on Truth Social on Monday, referring to the withdrawal as “the most EMBARASSING [sic] moment in the history of our Country.”
This is the third anniversary of the BOTCHED Afghanistan withdrawal, the most EMBARRASSING moment in the history of our Country. Gross Incompetence – 13 DEAD American soldiers, hundreds of people wounded and dead, AMERICANS and BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT LEFT BEHIND. You don’t take our soldiers out first, you take them out LAST, when all else is successfully done. Russia then invaded Ukraine, Israel was attacked, and the USA became, and is, a laughing stock all over the World. THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA REMAINS SILENT IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE WORST ADMINISTRATION IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY! MAGA2024
Being the leftist shill he is, Acosta was trying to distract from how badly the Biden White House handled the operation to remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Nevertheless, Trump’s criticisms of the president are on point.
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The administration’s withdrawal from the region is widely regarded as a significant foreign policy failure. The president’s handling of the matter was so incompetent that even Democrats criticized it. Various reports and testimonies show just how flawed the execution was.
A House investigation into the operation revealed poor planning and a lack of coordination. The administration’s decision to relinquish control of key military assets, such as the Bagram Air Base, along with its reliance on the Taliban to maintain security at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, was a recipe for disaster.
As U.S. forces pulled out of the region, the situation on the ground rapidly deteriorated. A newly emboldened Taliban swiftly overran the country, which culminated in the fall of Kabul. Video footage showing desperate Afghans clinging to departing planes became an iconic representation of the chaos the withdrawal caused.
Furthermore, the communication on the part of the Biden White House was both inconsistent and misleading. President Biden repeatedly assured the public that Afghanistan would not fall to the Taliban and that the operation would be orderly and safe. This turned out to be untrue as the situation spiraled out of control. Yet, the president and his cronies still insist they handled the matter appropriately.
Cheryl Rex, the mother of one of the fallen Marines, recalled a disturbingly callous interaction with President Biden where he appeared to make the tragedy about himself, equating the loss of her son to that of his own son, who died of cancer.
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“My heart started beating faster & I started shaking, knowing that their son died from cancer & they were able to be by his side.”
“How could someone be so heartless to say he knew how I felt.”
The Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster that resulted in unnecessary loss of life. The deaths of the 13 service members are the fault of the administration, a fact that should continually be highlighted. What is ironic about Acosta’s comments is that he was the one actually politicizing the deaths of these individuals to attack Trump. Unfortunately for him, there is no way to distract from this particular Biden debacle.