President Joe Biden is in the midst of the roughest stretch of his presidency — with evacuation operations continuing through Tuesday in Afghanistan under the threat of further terrorist attacks — having failed to convince even members of his own party that he’s on the right course.
In fact, there’s uncommon cross-partisan agreement that withdrawing all U.S. troops by Aug. 31 could be a grave mistake. The percentage of Americans who think U.S. troops should stay until all Americans are out of Afghanistan is 86% among Democrats, 87% among Republicans and 86% among Independents, in the ABC/Ipsos poll conducted after Thursday’s suicide attack in Kabul.
For those who think troops should stay until all Afghans who aided the U.S. effort there are evacuated, the D-R-I percentages are 72-77-70. The Biden administration has acknowledged that it’s impossible to guarantee that all those who want out will be able to do so before Tuesday’s deadline.
In a sense, the latest polling is behind the judgment of many elected officials who consider themselves Biden allies. The reflexive post-Trump reticence for Democrats to criticize Biden evaporated shortly after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, with countless Democrats now on the record as sceptical or worse toward the president’s plan and execution.
The White House is hoping and praying for successful evacuations from here, particularly during what Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on ABC’s “This Week” represents “the most dangerous time” — the final hours before the deadline for troop withdrawal.
-ABC News