President Joe Biden's administration is facing widespread criticism for what both sides of the aisle have criticized as a botched withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan to end America's longest war.
Thousands have gathered at the Kabul International Airport in an effort to escape after the fundamentalist Taliban regime retook Afghanistan. The White House is continuing the process of evacuating Americans and Afghan allies, with over 100 thousand already brought to safety.
The chaos reached a devastating crescendo on Thursday when a terrorist's bomb detonated near the airport, killing over 100 Afghans and at least 13 U.S. service members. State Department officials have surmised that another attack is likely.
Former President Donald Trump seized on the debacle, doing an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, where he bragged about his administration's foreign policy record. He also appeared to dismiss the carnage of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a mission ordered by former President Barack Obama in 2011 for orchestrating the catastrophic September 11 attacks.
In a familiar effort to dismiss the achievements of former President Barack Obama, Trump claimed the enemies killed under his administration's watch, such as Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani, were by far more influential than the killing of Osama bin Laden, who killed more than two thousand Americans in multiple attacks on American soil over the course of a single day.
Trump told Hewitt:
"Now just so you understand, Soleimani is bigger by many, many times than Osama bin Laden. The founder of ISIS is bigger by many, many times, al-Baghdadi, than Osama bin Laden. Osama bin Laden had one hit, and it was a bad one, in New York City, the World Trade Center. But these other two guys were monsters. They were monsters."
It sure sounded like Trump was claiming bin Laden was bad, but not a "monster" because he only launched one attack.
As MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan points out, this is false.
Bin Laden was a "one hit" wonder according to Trump.
That must come as news to the U.S. victims of the Tanzania/Kenya U.S. Embassy bombings in 1998 or attack on the U.S.S Cole in 2000.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 26, 2021
People weren't on board with Trump's characterization.
As the person representing lower Manhattan as we are just about to recognize the 20th year anniversary of 9/11 and still have constituents who are dying of cancer or have permanent conditions due to exposure\u2026.I\u2019m horrified and sickened.https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1430991584934473738\u00a0\u2026— Yuh-Line Niou (@Yuh-Line Niou) 1630018584
Donald Trump literally downplays Osama bin Laden's "one hit" to make his assassination of al-Baghdadi seem 'bigger' than Obama's assassination of bin Laden. What a black hole of an ego- just an endless sucking void of a man.https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1430991584934473738\u00a0\u2026— Justin Hendrix (@Justin Hendrix) 1630026004
The narcissism it takes to downplay Bin Laden because he\u2019s not the one killed on your watch is truly staggeringhttps://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1430991584934473738\u00a0\u2026— Hayes Brown (@Hayes Brown) 1630015590
\u201cOsama bin Laden had one hit\u201d is quite a way for a former US president to sum up the terrorist\u2019s careerhttps://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1430991584934473738\u00a0\u2026— David J. Lynch (@David J. Lynch) 1630023928
Trump\u2019s a traitor and laundromat for Putin and the rest of the world\u2019s terroristshttps://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1430991584934473738\u00a0\u2026— Luke Zaleski (@Luke Zaleski) 1630012864
This is astounding and can only be explained by deep narcissism.https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1430991584934473738\u00a0\u2026— Gregg Nunziata (@Gregg Nunziata) 1630019485
Some noted a double standard at play.
Trump says Bin Laden \u201cwasn\u2019t that big of a deal & wasn\u2019t a monster.\u201d I can\u2019t wait for the people who frothed at the mouth for months after @IlhanMN had a quote about 9/11 taken out of context have absolutely no problem with this because a white guy said it and not a Muslim woman.https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1430991584934473738\u00a0\u2026— Andrew Wortman \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Andrew Wortman \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1630015010
I challenge any Muslim American to say this and still have a career in the media and politics. (Please don't say this. You'll be destroyed.)https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1430991584934473738\u00a0\u2026— Wajahat Ali (@Wajahat Ali) 1630014333
Imagine. If. Ilhan. Omar. Said. It.https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1430991584934473738\u00a0\u2026— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1630010618
On the day of the September 11 attacks, Trump noted that—with the Twin Towers having fallen—his building was now the tallest in New York.
@winnieharlow/Instagram
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social