Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted the Biden administration for its “humiliating” U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, accusing a publicity-seeking White House of wanting “some type of 9/11 photo op.”
In a blistering address in Palm Valley, Fla., ahead of Saturday’s solemn 20th anniversary of the terror attack, DeSantis focused on the “fiasco" that resulted from the abrupt withdrawal in which 13 military members were slain in a bombing attack, Florida Politics reported.
“To see that happen without any planning, with no support, basically, a total fiasco. They were not served well by their leadership in this,” DeSantis said on Friday, the news outlet reported.
DeSantis described the way the deadly withdrawal unfolded as a “real stain on our country,” and suggested it was all about publicity, the news outlet reported.
“I don’t know why it was done that way,” he said, Florida Politics reported. “People have said they wanted to have some type of 9/11 photo op, which obviously is not going to happen now. But it was not done right and those folks were not supported.”
“To see the Taliban with all our military equipment over there? That’s humiliating for our country,” he added.
DeSantis is considered a leading prospect for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, the news outlet noted, and at a second appearance Friday, in Holiday, Fla., he repeated his criticism of the troops' withdrawal, Florida Politics reported.
“They deserve the best leadership at the top. They deserve people that care about them,” he said at that appearance, the news outlet reported.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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