Afghan pullout heat rises on Biden

‘Serious, serious mistake’ may haunt midterms

WASHINGTON • Democrats Friday sought to distance themselves from Joe Biden as fierce criticism of the president threatened to make him a political liability ahead of congressional elections next year.

The party controls both the Senate and House of Representatives by small margins and Republicans believe the president’s handling of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan could help them win back power.

One Democratic insider told The Daily Telegraph: “He was right to withdraw but the perception is, he’s made a serious, serious mistake. How he got himself into this mess is beyond me, and it’s done some serious harm to him.”

In the key state of Pennsylvania, the fact Biden was born there proved a major electoral boost for Democrats in 2020.

But Susan Wild, a Democrat congresswoman from Pennsylvania, strongly criticized the president.

She said: “The evacuation process appears to have been egregiously mishandled. We need answers and accountability regarding the cascading failures that led us to this moment. Our troops deserve nothing less than a complete and unvarnished truth.”

White House officials appeared stung by criticism from fellow Democrats. In response to Wild’s comments Jen Psaki, the White House spokeswoman, said: “It is easy to throw stones and be a critic from the outside. It is harder to be in the arena and make difficult decisions.”

There was particular anger, including among Democrats, that the names of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies had been given to the Taliban so they could be let past checkpoints. In Washington, Bob Menendez, the Democrat who chairs the Senate foreign relations committee, said: “We can’t trust the Taliban with Americans’ security.” Referring to the sharing of intelligence with the Taliban, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said: “The president basically provided the Taliban with a user-friendly kill list.”

Republicans have requested that documents relating to decisions on the Afghanistan withdrawal be preserved, suggesting a potential future inquiry.