Trump Would Win Today as Voters Say Biden Is More to Blame for Afghanistan, Poll Shows
01:08 GMT 19.08.2021 (Updated: 16:35 GMT 08.12.2022)
© REUTERS / OCTAVIO JONES
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Biden received 51.3% of the popular vote last November, compared to Trump's 46.8%. Though many Americans saw Biden as a more competent leader than his predecessor in the months after the inauguration, the administration has suffered a strong blow to its popularity in the wake of its handling of the hasty pullout from Afghanistan.
Former President Donald Trump would defeat Vice President Joe Biden in the next presidential election if it were held today, a new Rasmussen poll showed on Wednesday.
According to the poll, in the latest indicator of Americans' rising dissatisfaction with Biden, only 37% of probable US voters would vote for him in a presidential election if it was to be held right now. On the other hand, Trump would receive 43% of the vote, while 14% would vote for "some other candidate," but the poll does not specify which one.
Interestingly, Trump would win more women and black votes this time.
The poll was taken on August 16-17 with 1,000 likely voters, in the midst of the US' tumultuous exit from Afghanistan after 20 years of military intervention, thousands of casualties, and a cost of more than $2 trillion.
Another poll reveals that voters are concerned about Biden's performance in this chaotic situation. Just over half of likely voters reportedly believe Biden is more to blame for the Taliban's takeover of the war-torn country than Trump. On the other hand, only 38% said Trump is to blame.
However, in a silver lining for Biden, the majority of respondents said they do not regret voting for him in 2020, as 87% of Democrats are content with how they voted, while 95% of Republicans are as well.
According to Rasmussen, voter discontent with Biden is a clue that his colleagues' repeated assertions that the Afghanistan fiasco is Trump's responsibility are failing to persuade.
People climb a barbed wire wall to enter the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 16, 2021, in this still image taken from a video.
© REUTERS / REUTERS TV
Over the past several days, Biden and his national security team both blamed Trump for the peace accord with the Taliban* that he negotiated in early 2020. Back then in Doha, Trump agreed to a troop withdrawal by May 1 and the release of 5,000 Taliban detainees.
However, multiple media reports claim that it is the rapid evacuation that has left Afghan civilians and American citizens trapped in Kabul, even after the Taliban sealed off exits to Hamid Karzai International Airport, and not the withdrawal deal in the first place.
During the unfolding crisis, Trump has been blasting Biden's handling of Afghanistan, even calling it "the greatest embarrassment we have ever seen."
The Biden administration was also criticized on Tuesday by the former US Secretary of State under President Bush Jr., Condoleezza Rice, who in her column for the Washington Post expressed the opinion that "20 years was not enough" to consolidate the reforms initiated by the pro-American authorities.
A screen displays U.S. President Joe Biden's remarks on the crisis in Afghanistan at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square in New York City, U.S., August 16, 2021.
© REUTERS / JEENAH MOON
Respondents to the Economist/YouGov poll conducted between August 14-17 expressed similar sentiments, with the majority saying they "strongly disapprove" of Biden's handling of the Afghan crisis. A majority of Republican voters "strongly disapprove" of Biden's handling of the situation, while a majority of Democratic voters "somewhat approve."
What is worth noting, is that, according to the poll, many Americans appear to be increasingly concerned about US national security as a result of the withdrawal, with 48% feeling a terrorist strike is at least 10% likely in the next 12 months.
The Chaotic Fall of Kabul
In April, Trump's original withdrawal deadline had been pushed back to August 31 by the Biden administration. Since all US combat troops left the country in July, the Taliban's fast onslaught, which saw them take control of much of the country in just days and Kabul fall to them on Sunday, spurred the unexpected, chaotic rush to flee this week.
According to multiple reports from the city, many people dread being trapped outside the airport since the Taliban controls the surrounding areas and decides who gets to enter the country's last remaining US bastion and escape possible retribution from the militant group.
Horrific videos circulating online show Afghan citizens clinging to American jets and falling from the sky have added to the dismal picture of the US departure, especially given the news of dogs being evacuated by barely full aircraft while Afghans chase planes down the runway.
Such footage has evoked comparisons in media and social networks with the hasty evacuation of the US from Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War.
*Taliban, a terrorist group banned in Russia and a number of other countries
