A new poll indicates that Americans have sunk even deeper with Vice President Kamala Harris as she continues her radio silence on the chaotic and tragic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
According to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday, 55% of likely voters say the former California senator is “not qualified” or “not at all qualified” to take over the presidency. By contrast, 43 percent consider Harris “qualified” or “highly qualified” as a commander-in-chief.
The same poll found in April that 49 percent of likely voters said Harris was qualified to become president, even though 51 percent of voters had an “unfavorable impression” of her.
The poll was conducted between August 12 and 15, as the Taliban launched their offensive across Afghanistan that led to the collapse of the government with the support of the West. this country weeks before the deadline to withdraw U.S. combat forces.
Harris has not held any public events since last week, when he interrupted a meeting with CEOs to discuss the Biden administration’s daycare proposals to receive briefing on Afghanistan.
Since then, he has participated in at least four information meetings with President Biden and his national security team, but has limited his public statements about Afghanistan to Twitter and did not appear alongside Biden when he tried to defend the withdrawal in statements from the East Room of the White House.
“For two decades, our brave members of the service put their lives on the line in Afghanistan. We will always be grateful and proud, “he tweeted on Monday.” Ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan is the right decision. “
On Tuesday, Harris tweeted, “We went to Afghanistan almost 20 years ago. Now our mission is to make our people, our allies and vulnerable Afghans safe outside the country.”
It’s a stark contrast since April 25, when Harris told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he was the last person with Biden when he called for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan – and he wholeheartedly approved of it.
“He’s a president who has extraordinary value,” Harris told host Dana Bash at the time. “He’s someone I’ve seen repeatedly make decisions based on what he really believes, based on the years he’s been doing this work and studying these issues, what he really believes is right.”
On Thursday, Harris made his first statements to the camera in seven days, delivering a three-minute recorded speech at the virtual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). He praised his work on the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as what he called “anti-voter bills that have been introduced in state legislatures across our country,” but made no mention of the Afghanistan.
On Friday, Harris plans to go on his second trip abroad, this time to Singapore and Vietnam. He is expected to face detailed questions about what the calamity in Afghanistan means for U.S. policy toward China.