NBC News’ Chuck Todd says the chaos in Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal will hurt the view that President Joe Biden is a competent commander-in-chief.
During an appearance on MSNBC on Tuesday, Todd said, “I do think the biggest political fall out from this is competency.”
“Joe Biden’s greatest strength against Donald Trump in the campaign was the idea that he’s been around the block, he knows what he’s doing, we’re facing this crisis with Covid, we need some basic competency back in government, no more chaos,” he added.
Finally, Todd said, “He’s lost the competency high marks that he was getting at one time. That’s tough to get back.”
Watch the video below:
Even Chuck Todd admits: Joe Biden has lost his "competency" card after Afghanistan disaster and "that's tough to get back." pic.twitter.com/Cy98aPmWzM
— Scott Whitlock (@ScottJW) August 17, 2021
Todd’s comments come after the Taliban took over Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday following a swift campaign to gain control of the nation that stunned Biden administration officials.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC News that the offensive “certainly unfolded at unexpected speed.”
The collapse of the Afghan security forces and government led to chaotic scenes at the Hamid Karzai International Airport as thousands of Afghans attempted to flee the country.
During remarks at the White House on Monday, Biden defended the decision to withdraw U.S. forces as he argued that there was no “good” time to leave the country.
Still, he acknowledged that the fall of Afghanistan “did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated.”
“So, what’s happened? Afghan political leaders gave up and left the country. The Afghan military collapsed… If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision. American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves,” Biden said.
Biden has received bipartisan criticism for the execution of the withdrawal.
On Sunday, Todd said he believes the withdrawal is “just going to haunt [Biden’s] legacy” even after he is out of office.