Responding to President Joe Biden’s handling of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, South Carolina Rep. Russell Fry, a Republican, called on Biden to appoint former President Donald J. Trump as a “special envoy” to oversee the remainder of America’s pull out.
Fry, in a statement posted on Facebook and shared with The Sun News, criticized Biden for campaigning on bipartisan cooperation in the federal government and said Biden “only achieved that once, through universal condemnation of his ineptly led withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
“The loss of American life and treasure was predictable — and preventable,” Fry added.
So, Fry suggested in his statement, Biden should appoint Trump to oversee the remainder of the Afghanistan withdrawal in the spirit of bipartisanship.
“For the sake of our countrymen in harm’s way, it’s time for Biden to live up to his own words of bipartisanship and turn to trusted hands who know how to get the job done,” Fry said. “I call on Joe Biden to set aside political differences and, in a spirit of true bipartisan cooperation, appoint Donald J. Trump as his special envoy to oversee the Afghanistan withdrawal.”
Fry said Thursday evening that he wasn’t immediately available to answer additional questions about his statement, saying he was at a dinner.
His communications director, though, Mark Powell, said Fry was saying that Trump could be a potentially valuable resource and that Biden should utilize him.
“i just know that in this situation you want to do everything you can and in this case there’s a resource available,” Powell said. “Why not use it?”
Powell added that U.S. presidents using leaders of the opposition party in their administrations was not unprecendented. He pointed to former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointing Wendell Willkie to be a special representative of the country after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt, a Democrat, had defeated Willkie, a Republican, in the 1940 presidential election.
“Americans are in peril right now, it’s indisputable, and if there’s a resource that’s available…why not take advantage of it?” Powell said.
Biden has been criticized for his handling of the removal of American soldiers and citizens as well as U.S. allies from Afghanistan as he seeks to end the nation’s longest war. The withdrawal, begun by Trump under his administration and continued by Biden, led to a much earlier than expected collapse of the Afghan government to the Taliban and in recent days has seen chaos at Kabul’s airport as thousands of people try to flee the country.
That chaos culminated Thursday in a suicide-bombing attack near the airport that killed 13 American soldiers and wounded 15 others. U.S. officials warned that such an attack might be imminent earlier in the day. At least 60 Afghans were killed as well.
Other area politicians have called for Biden to be impeached or removed from office because of his handling of the withdrawal. U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., called for Biden to resign on Thursday, and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he supported Biden being impeached.
In an interview with The Sun News Thursday, Rice said he recognized that Biden resigning would mean Vice President Kamala Harris would become the president, a result that he said would be “terrible” for the country. But, Rice added, he was concerned that Biden was ignoring the advice of his military and pursuing a bad plan with regard to Afghanistan.
“Joe Biden said that they had a strategy and they had considered all contingencies on withdrawing from Afghanistan, and I’ve heard repeatedly from various members of his administration that they warned him about a potential catastrophe,” Rice said. “And in the face of all this he’s done it in a manner that if there was a strategy, I cannot discern what it was.”
Other local politicos vying for office have also criticized Biden’s handling of the withdrawal, including Graham Allen and Jeanette Spurlock, who are both running to unseat Rice.
In his statement on Afghanistan, Allen joined the call for Biden’s removal.
“”I AM CALLING ON BIDEN TO RESIGN IMMEDIATELY AND DEMANDING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO DEMAND THE SAME!!!” Graham Allen wrote in all capital letters in a statement Thursday.
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