The Taliban gained control of Afghanistan’s capital on Sunday, and the optics couldn’t be worse for the Biden administration.
Vice President Kamala Harris is planning a visit to Vietnam just as the fall of Kabul draws comparisons to the 1975 fall of Saigon.
Critics called the move tone-deaf.
This trek marks Harris’s second international trip as vice president. She has previously traveled to Latin America to investigate the causes of illegal immigration — a trip that was marred by controversy. Some critics took issue with her statement to the Guatemalans.
“I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making the dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border. Do not come. Do not come,” Harris said in Guatemala.
Harris’s chief spokesperson Symone D. Sanders said that Harris will meet with Southeast Asian leaders to discuss the pandemic, regional security, global warming, and “our joint effort to promote a rules-based international order.”
Her visit to Asia comes as the Biden administration searches for ways to support allies reckoning with the close proximity of Communist China. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Japan and South Korea, reported The Washington Post. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently visited Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines.
But Kamal Harris’ visit to Vietnam comes at an inopportune time. Americans have been reminded of the final fall of Saigon as they watch videos of Afghans crowding the Kabul airport and swarming U.S. military helicopters.
Kamala Harris has not held a press briefing or spoken publicly about the fall of Afghanistan to the radical Islamic Taliban since the fiasco began unfolding just one week ago.
As of Monday, she still plans to visit Vietnam, according to the Post.
One reporter at Fox News called the visit “the worst photo-op for an American in that country since Jane Fonda donned a helmet there in 1972.”
Not only is Harris contributing to bad optics for the Biden administration, but she is also — quite literally — distancing herself from President Joe Biden’s bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Harris had previously touted her involvement in Biden’s plan, and she was involved in Biden’s decision-making process.
In April Harris told CNN that she was the last person in the room during Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. CNN’s Dana Bash replied, “Are you comfortable?”
“Yes,” Harris said confidently.
If the decision were a success, she would probably be congratulating herself. Yet she is remaining silent and flying halfway around the world.
Vice President Harris says she was the last person in the room with President Biden when he made the Afghanistan troop withdrawal decision: "I have seen him over and over again make decisions based exactly on what he believes is right" #CNNSOTU https://t.co/JEsNtFZsgq pic.twitter.com/BSRcc25J8s
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 25, 2021
The Horn editorial team