President Joe Biden is facing an onslaught of criticism for the botched withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, which reached a devastating crescendo on Thursday when terrorists detonated a series of bombs near the Kabul International Airport, where thousands of Afghan allies had gathered in hopes of escaping Taliban rule. Nearly 100 Afghans and at least 13 Americans service members were killed in the blasts.
In a press conference shortly after the attack, Biden took responsibility for the diplomatic miscalculations that marred the withdrawal, offered condolences to the families of those who were killed, and vowed to the perpetrators that the United States "will hunt you down and make you pay."
Far-right Congressman Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina joined the chorus of outraged Republicans calling for Biden to step down or be removed from office.
He specifically called on Vice President Kamala Harris to begin rallying cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment, which sidelines a President when their Vice President and a majority of the cabinet secretaries revoke confidence in the President's ability to lead.
Cawthorn's office misspelled the Vice President's name as "Kamela."
GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn sent a letter to VP Kamala Harris, cc'd to the rest of the presidential line of succession, urging them to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Biden:pic.twitter.com/JVZ7YJUlS3— Andrew Solender (@Andrew Solender) 1630024668
The bizarre letter reads in part:
"It brings me no pleasure to report this, but I have become increasingly convinced of what you already know, President Biden is no longer capable of discharging the duties of his office. ... If we, those kindly disposed to our country and its defenders take notice, what will our adversaries and rivals say? Surely, they are awaiting opportunities to exploit this executive-level vulnerability both interpersonally and in their propaganda. America, the best hope of the world, cannot afford a weakness so obvious and glaring. To ask Americans to refuse the obvious evidence of their eyes is a mistake."
The rambling letter then goes on to inexplicably quote Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson for an entire paragraph.
Though Cawthorn may have strained himself trying to sound like a statesman, the letter was widely mocked on social media.
are we in a VEEP episode rn https://twitter.com/andrewsolender/status/1431053298979811328\u00a0\u2026— pillow princess (@pillow princess) 1630072112
it always takes me out lmao https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1431053298979811328\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/FASkRSXW5u— jonny \ud83d\ude47\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2642\ufe0f (@jonny \ud83d\ude47\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2642\ufe0f) 1630026682
I love the randomly placed \u201csuch as it was\u201d https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1431053298979811328\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/2W8zse0qVF— leyla (@leyla) 1630074813
My ribs are absolutely aching from laughing at how the quote from Treasure Island is deployedhttps://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1431053298979811328?s=20\u00a0\u2026— AK Lingus (@AK Lingus) 1630074198
The typos were glaring.
While misspelling her name as \u201cKamela\u201dand addressing her by the French \u201cMadame\u201d [as in Bovary] Vice President rather than the intended \u201cMadam.\u201d Typos happen to us all but heck of a way to start a stunt letter baselessly trying to remove a US President from office.https://twitter.com/andrewsolender/status/1431053298979811328\u00a0\u2026— Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (@Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi) 1630025601
He spelled her name wrong and her title wrong.https://twitter.com/andrewsolender/status/1431053298979811328\u00a0\u2026— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1630027527
Oh my god, he misspelled her name. You can\u2019t make this stuff up. #nc11https://twitter.com/andrewsolender/status/1431053298979811328\u00a0\u2026— Callie (@Callie) 1630026127
The Vice President hasn't indicated plans to respond.
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