On Thursday, several Republican lawmakers publicly called on President Joe Biden to resign after a suicide bomber attacked the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 13 U.S. service members.
ISIS has claimed credit for the Kabul airport attack, in which a suicide bomber hid within the crowds of people seeking to evacuate Afghanistan and snuck up close to U.S. service members before detonating their explosives.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), tweeted, “To say that today’s loss of American lives in Kabul is sickening does not begin to do justice to what has happened. It is enraging. And Joe Biden is responsible. It is now clear beyond all doubt that he has neither the capacity nor the will to lead. He must resign.”
Hawley tweeted a further statement criticizing Biden. “Our nation is forever indebted to the brave Marines who made the ultimate sacrifice today. And we remember as well the innocent Afghanis who needlessly perished. Joe Biden has now overseen the deadliest day for US troops in Afghanistan in over a decade, and the crisis grows worse by the hour. We must reject the falsehood peddled by a feckless president that this was the only option for withdrawal. This is the product of Joe Biden’s catastrophic failure of leadership. It is now painfully clear he has neither the will nor the capacity to lead. He must resign.”
Throughout the evacuation effort, U.S. troops have been maintaining a security perimeter at the Kabul airport. The Afghanistan evacuation efforts have been plagued by claims of Taliban fighters stopping people trying to reach the Kabul airport, but U.S. military officials said they would continue relying on Taliban assurances that the militant group would let evacuees through to the airport.
On Thursday, following the Kabul airport attack, Biden said he did not believe it was a mistake to rely on the Taliban throughout the evacuation efforts.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) went further than Hawley, calling not only for Biden to resign, but also Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Cheifs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.
“Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Antony Blinken, Lloyd Austin and General Milley should all resign or face impeachment and removal from office,” Blackburn tweeted.
On Tuesday, even before the attacks on the Kabul airport, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called for Biden to be impeached for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan altogether. Graham had previously urged then-President Donald Trump to keep troops in the country, despite Trump’s own withdrawal plans.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) also called for others to resign beyond Biden.
Boebert initially tweeted, “It’s time for Joe Biden to resign” before adding “Kamala and [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] can follow him out the door.”
In a Thursday press release, Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) said:
The news out of Kabul is devastating.
Well Joe, you’ve proven yourself incapable of handling your job as Commander in Chief. You ignored your advisors, rushed this haphazard withdrawal without appropriate conditions and before evacuating our citizens and friends. Your ineptitude has now cost at least 12 American lives.
Meanwhile, Joe hasn’t said a word to the American people in more than 21 hours. There is no sign he will address the American people anytime soon.
All options are on the table to hold President Biden accountable for this tragic chain of avoidable events. President Biden, you yourself said ‘The Buck stops here.’ Do the American people a favor. Resign and turn the job over to someone who can handle it.
My prayers continue to be with the injured, our troops, and all those in harm’s way.”
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) tweeted, “I called for Biden’s resignation the first day this Afghanistan debacle began & it has grown more deadly by the day. Now the Pentagon is confirming a number of US & civilian casualties. I urge my colleagues to join me in calling for the resignation or impeachment of Joe Biden.”
Rep. Byron Donalds, retweeting Tenney, said, “Earlier this week, I too called on the President of the United States to resign immediately following his haphazard withdrawal from Afghanistan. He has abdicated his responsibility and duties entrusted to him as POTUS, and he must RESIGN IMMEDIATELY. #BidenResign #BidenResign.”
