New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday applauded President Joe Biden and called it a ''courageous decision'' for him to order U.S. forces out of Afghanistan.
The Democratic congresswoman's defense of Biden comes amid intense criticism of the president's handling of the withdrawal, and polls showing the president's support dropping quickly. With a Rasmussen poll finding that more than half of Americans say the president should resign over the Afghanistan situation, Ocasio-Cortez attempted to shift the focus from the White House and instead took aim at Department of Defense contractors.
''In case you're wondering why people are going on TV relentlessly attacking Biden for his courageous decision to leave Afghanistan when no other president would, here's one glimpse as to why,'' Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Wednesday as she shared a video where she grilled a defense contractor in a congressional hearing for allegedly overcharging the U.S. government, Breitbart reported.
''War is addictive for the few who reap its profits, while the rest of us foot the bill,'' she added.
Biden has defended his pullout from Afghanistan and blamed his predecessor, Donald Trump, for the botched withdrawal that resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members while leaving thousands of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies stranded.
While Ocasio-Cortez was praising Biden for his management of the Afghanistan pullout, GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn said it was ''repulsive'' for Biden to be ''trying to do a victory lap over the withdrawal considering 13 U.S. troops were killed in a terrorist bombing at the Kabul airport while the evacuation efforts were going on."
"They wanted a victory lap by Sept. 11, so that they could do a check the box," the Tennessee Republican said on Fox Business' "Mornings With Maria." "The mistakes are myriad on this. Lives have been impacted."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.