Republicans at RNC lean into attacks on Biden over Afghanistan withdrawal

Speakers at the Republican National Convention criticized President Biden over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and his response following the death of 13 service members during the Kabul airport bombing.

The RNC played a video interviewing some of the Gold Star families who lost members of their families during the 2021 bombing and later brought some of them on stage, where they held portraits of the victims. 

“There has been a deafening silence from the Biden and Harris administration,” said Alicia Lopez, one of the Gold Star family members on stage, who stood next to her husband, Herman. 

“Despite our pleas for answers and accountability, they have pushed us away and tried to silence us. The Biden administration has not owned up to the bad decisions,” she said. “They have not been transparent about their failures and their so-called leaders worked to protect themselves, rather than our sons and daughters who took the oath to defend our country.”

Herman Lopez read out the names of all 13 service members who died during the Kabul airport bombing, with attendees echoing the names of each one out loud. Chants of “Never forget!” and “Joe must go!” could be heard through the speeches of the family members.

“While Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice, Donald Trump spent six hours in Bedminster with us,” said Christy Shamblin, who lost her daughter-in-law. “He allowed us to grieve. He allowed us to remember our heroes. Donald Trump knew all of our children's names.”

Biden has defended his withdrawal from Afghanistan, which received intense scrutiny amid the reported U.S. casualties. 

“Let me be clear: Leaving August the 31st is not due to an arbitrary deadline; it was designed to save American lives,” Biden said in late August 2021.

“I was not going to extend this forever war, and I was not extending a forever exit.  The decision to end the military airlift operations at Kabul airport was based on the unanimous recommendation of my civilian and military advisors — the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and all the service chiefs, and the commanders in the field,” he explained. 

Other speakers, including political candidates, also took the opportunity to knock the president over his handling of the withdrawal.

“Consider for a minute Biden’s disgraceful retreat from Afghanistan. When he let our enemies steal billions of dollars of our equipment and kill 13 brave American service members,” Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy said on Tuesday. “To this day, there has been zero accountability. None.”

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said in a speech at the RNC on Wednesday that Biden had “adopted failed policy after failed policy.”

“Where President Trump orchestrated an orderly end to the Afghanistan war with no American killed in nearly two years, Biden ordered a chaotic, panic-filled withdrawal that left 13 American troops and hundreds of Afghans dead.”