Majority of Americans Think Biden Should Resign Over Afghan Debacle — Poll
20:20 GMT 01.10.2021 (Updated: 16:36 GMT 08.12.2022)
© REUTERS / EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about COVID-19 vaccines at the White House in Washington
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Joe Biden has seen his approval ratings plummet since August's rushed and bloody evacuation from Kabul of embassy staff, other citizens and collaborators with the 20-year US-led occupation of Afghanistan. But Vice-President Kamala Harris is taking less flak from voters, prompting speculation she is being lined up for a White House takeover.
More than half of Americans think President Joe Biden should resign over his handling of the chaotic evacuation of the Afghan capital Kabul.
Conservative pollster Rasmussen found that 55 per cent of voters agreed the 78-year-old Democrat should go — with 41 per cent concurring "strongly". Just 39 per cent thought Biden should stay in office, 29 per cent agreeing strongly.
55% of voters agree with @MarshaBlackburn statement that @POTUS should resign.
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) October 1, 2021
Strongly Agree - 41%
Disagree - 39% (29% strongly)#breakingpoll #AfghanistanCrisis https://t.co/Lv4NPmAHF4 pic.twitter.com/BpxAr8KCAN
Rasmussen also found that 60 per cent of likely voters thought Biden should have kept troops in Afghanistan — in further breach of the peace accord with the Taliban* signed by his predecessor Donald Trump, which stipulated a May 1 withdrawal deadline.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Armed Services Committee this week that he had advised Biden to leave 2,500 personnel in the country.
60% of Likely U.S. Voters think keeping 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan – as Milley testified this week he recommended to Biden – would have been better than a complete U.S. troop withdrawal@POTUS #breakingpoll #AfghanistanCrisis https://t.co/Lv4NPmj6gu pic.twitter.com/9AALnuWMxi
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) October 1, 2021
The Biden administration has been accused of ignoring warnings that the Afghan National Army would collapse after the US military withdrawal, leaving the Taliban to sweep across the country and enter Kabul as they did in August.
The White House response was to order a hurried evacuation of its embassy and staff in the city. That rapidly turned into a panicked mass exodus as thousands of Westerners tried to flee via Kabul airport, along with tens of thousands of Afghans seeking asylum in the US and other countries.
A series of deadly incidents, culminating in a Daesh*-Khorasan (Daesh-K) suicide bombing outside the airport gates left over 180 people dead, including 13 US service personnel.
Afghan Pullout Was ‘Developed by Child’s Mind’, Trump Says After Senate Hearing With Military Chiefs
29 September 2021, 04:15 GMT
Meanwhile, The Hill reported that Vice-President Kamala Harris' approval rating was running at 49 per cent — equal with public disapproval — in a Gallup poll, six points above Biden's 43 per cent.
Conservative commentator Jack Posobiec ventured that the poll was part of attempts to portray Harris, who dropped out of the 2020 Democratic Party primary race before it began due to lack of support — as a credible mid-term replacement for Biden.
They’re laying the groundwork for what’s coming https://t.co/FpA02Luxn7
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) September 30, 2021
* The Taliban and Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) are banned as terrorist organisations in a number of countries including Russia.
