GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert was condemned by politicians from both sides of the aisle for praising — and seemingly promoting — the Taliban on Monday after the group seized Afghanistan’s capital Kabul over the weekend.
“The Taliban are the only people building back better,” the freshman representative tweeted, using Biden’s own campaign slogan.
“Tell that to the women,” snapped former GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman while Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones mused, “This is a very dumb statement.”
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell brought up the Jan. 6 rally-turned-riot that Boebert championed, adding, “Makes sense. You tried to overthrow the US government so of course you support the overthrow of the Afghan government.”
Celebrities and observers also chimed in.
Comedian Tom Arnold tweeted, “Unlike your nasty ass I actually went to Afghanistan for a couple weeks with our amazing troops. Your Taliban buddies killed one of our Marines and several of our Afghan friends which explains your failure to support bringing Afghan hero’s to America.”
VoteVets, an organization comprised of and supporting progressive veterans, told Boebert to delete her account. Activist David Hogg was in disbelief, tweeting “Did I just read that?”
Biden addressed the situation in D.C. on Monday, standing by the decision to completely draw down the American military forces while saying the speed of the Taliban’s takeover was a surprise even to the White House. He also said he had authorized the additional deployment of 6,000 more troops to secure the safe evacuation of Americans and its allies, which included members of the media.
The president added that it has been made clear to the Taliban that if they attack U.S. personnel or disrupt the operations, the U.S. will respond with force.
“This did unfold more quickly than we anticipated,” Biden said. “U.S. military will provide assistance to … U.S. non-governmental organizations, Afghans that are otherwise at great risk and U.S. news agencies.”