Vice President Kamala Harris claimed Monday that the Biden administration is “singularly focused” on resolving the unraveling situation in Afghanistan. But the nation’s second-in-command won’t even be back in Washington until next weekend.
Harris is currently in Singapore on the first leg of her second foreign trip since assuming office. On Tuesday, she’ll head to Vietnam — which is ironic since the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has drawn comparisons to the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War.
Then she’s off to Hawaii before finally returning stateside on Friday to focus on domestic policy by assisting Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom in his recall election fight.
But what about the pressing foreign policy catastrophe in Afghanistan where an unknown number of American citizens and legal permanent residents are still trapped, awaiting evacuation as Taliban forces sweep the country? There’s plenty of time to address that, Harris claimed.
“I think there’s going to be plenty of time to analyze what has happened and what has taken place in the context of the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” the vice president said Monday during a news conference in Singapore, according to The Hill.
“But right now, we are singularly focused on evacuating American citizens, Afghans who worked with us, and Afghans who are vulnerable, including women and children,” she insisted.
“There’s no question there will be and should be a robust analysis of what has happened. But right now, there is no question that our focus has to be on evacuating American citizens, Afghans who worked with us, and vulnerable Afghans, including women and children. That has to be our primary focus and where we are placing our attention on the issue of Afghanistan,” she reiterated.
That might be a difficult task to perform out-of-pocket. Nevertheless, Harris’s plans to visit California have not been changed to this point.
The Sacramento Bee reported Friday that the vice president is expected to speak at a Newsom campaign rally in the Bay Area this upcoming Friday, where she will urge Californians to vote against the effort to recall the progressive governor.
“I am excited to join my friend and our vice president next week,” Newsom reportedly said in a statement. “The stakes of this election couldn’t be higher.”
Harris’s team confirmed the plans to the Bee.
To make matters worse, Harris undercut her own projected seriousness about the Afghanistan conflict by letting out a characteristic cackle when first questioned about it in Singapore.
