With reports that the military was beginning to withdraw from the Kabul airport long before all Americans were evacuated from Afghanistan, former Republican Matthew Dowd made an appearance on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront on Tuesday to prove to everyone he was living in another reality. According to his rambling, Biden was America’s miracle worker that deserved praise because he had allegedly done “yeoman’s work” and turned the situation around.
He was encouraged by fill-in host Kate Bolduan, who wanted to know if Biden was “inherently betting that the American people are with him on this in the long run? Do you think he is making the right bet?”
Dowd wasted no time in tooting his own horn by reminding Bolduan that “I actually have a lauded the President from the very beginning about Afghanistan.” He then tried to rewrite the history of Biden’s terrible decision-making by claiming he was “dealt a horrible situation” and “he's done an extremely good job in the situation.”
And without mentioning that fact that only a fraction of the people evacuated were American citizens, with an untold number more left stranded in distant parts of Kabul and the rest of the country, Dowd touted the administration’s dubious evacuation numbers:
There were many people over the last seven days that said there’s no possible way he could get 50,000 people out. No possible way and that was the number of people thought had to get out. He's got 70,000 people in the last eight days. 70,000 people out of Afghanistan in the last days. And I actually think the President from what he was dealt and what he’s done over the course of the last week, should be congratulated on the way this was done.
The reason the numbers were suspect was that the administration had been caught trying to include people who left the country BEFORE in fell to the Taliban.
But that wasn’t the end of Dowd’s unwarranted praise for the man who had repeatedly turned his back on Americans looking for answers and help. “I think the President has done unbelievable yeoman’s work,” he claimed. “And he's the first president in four presidents to actually get done what the American people wanted done in Afghanistan, which was get out.”
As polling showed, yes they wanted to get out of Afghanistan but they also wanted the President to do it competently. And his repeated refusal to answer questions at press conferences and repeated attempts to go on vacation during a crisis of his making had resulted in his disapproval over taking his approval.
That didn’t stop Dowd from suggesting Afghanistan didn’t play a huge role in the drop. “I think ultimately, his approval rating is directly tied not to Afghanistan and not to the infrastructure bill but where the economy is and how he handles the epidemic,” he asserted.
Dowd would be disappointed to learn that CBS conducted a poll with questions focused on Afghanistan and had senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe confront him with it on Sunday. “The poll also found that based in part on what's transpired in the past week, a majority of Americans … no longer consider you to be competent, focused, or effective at the job,” he embarrassed the President.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront
August 24, 2021
7:22:02 p.m. Eastern(…)
KATE BOLDUAN: You know, Phil [Mattingly] was talking about kind of where they would like to pivot their focus, where they would like administration and White House would like the focus to be.
An NBC poll shows that Biden's approval has dipped below 50 percent for the first time in his presidency. He's clearly face facing a lot of criticism for the handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, that’s a clear crisis. But do you think a win on Capitol Hill – if that's what this ends up being – will have people looking past the crisis that's unfolded in Afghanistan?
MATTHEW DOWD: Well, first, I'd like to say that Joe Biden's drift down of his approval ratings didn't start with Afghanistan. It started with the COVID and the spread of the virus and I think Americans very -- not disapproval of him but disapproval of the situation. And I think that has to get fixed for his approval numbers to fundamentally go back up to where they were. It's not a large drift. It's a small drift of approval numbers.
So, I think in the end, he won't get a huge bump from whatever happens in the House and the Senate because there is still a lot of things left to do. I think ultimately, his approval rating is directly tied not to Afghanistan and not to the infrastructure bill but where the economy is and how he handles the epidemic.
BOLDUAN: And let’s also – But apply this kind of to what we're seeing in Afghanistan. The president standing by his decision to -- with his intention to withdraw U.S. troops from the country by this time next week. And he has faced criticism from the left and the right about how this withdrawal has been executed. But we are seeing a huge bit of progress on the part of the military in getting people out now.
But is Biden just inherently betting that the American people are with him on this in the long run? Do you think he is making the right bet?
DOWD: Well, as you probably are aware, I actually have a lauded the President from the very beginning about Afghanistan. He was dealt a horrible situation. And as of today, he's done an extremely good job in the situation.
There were many people over the last seven days that said there’s no possible way he could get 50,000 people out. No possible way and that was the number of people thought had to get out. He's got 70,000 people in the last eight days. 70,000 people out of Afghanistan in the last days. And I actually think the President from what he was dealt and what he’s done over the course of the last week, should be congratulated on the way this was done.
Now, there’s many things left to handle over the course of this situation. I think the President has done unbelievable yeoman’s work. And he's the first president in four presidents to actually get done what the American people wanted done in Afghanistan, which was get out.
(…)
