An overwhelming majority of Americans disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of military operations in Afghanistan, according to a Monday poll.
The Trafalgar Group surveyed over 1,000 potential 2022 American voters and found that 69.3% of the overall participants disapproved of Biden’s handling in Afghanistan, according to the Convention of States Action’s Monday press release. The majority in the bracket, 59.5%, said they “strongly disapprove” of the president’s performance, while the other 10% said they “disapprove.”
The poll was conducted between Aug. 14-15 with a total of 1,048 respondents and had a margin of error of 2.98%, according to the report.
Meanwhile, roughly 23% of Americans approve of the president’s handling of military operations, with 12.4% having said they solely “approve” and the other 11% saying they “strongly approve,” according to the poll. Only 7.5% of participants said they have “no opinion.” (RELATED: WaPo White House Correspondent Says Biden Wanted Afghan Exit So Badly He Didn’t Listen To The Generals)
The White House announced Aug. 14 that 5,000 U.S. military troops were to be deployed to Afghanistan in order to assist personnel at the U.S. Embassy in evacuating the country due to the Taliban’s takeover of the country. The following day, the radical Islamic force breached Kabul, the nation’s capital, causing Americans located in Afghanistan to evacuate the country on military flights.
Taliban fighters stand guard along a street near the Zanbaq Square in Kabul on August 16, 2021. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)
An overwhelming majority of Republican and Independent voters surveyed disapprove of Biden’s handling in Afghanistan, with 80% of GOP participants saying they “strongly disapprove,” and nearly 9% replying that they “disapprove,” the poll said. Nearly 75% of Independent voters disapprove, with over two-thirds of respondents saying that they “strongly disapprove.”
In contrast, only 48% of Democratic voters in total expressed their disapproval, with the majority strongly disapproving, according to the poll. The approval ratings were largely shown among Democrats, with about 23% approving, the poll revealed. Only 3% of Republicans and 9% of Independents approve of the administration’s military handling.
The Convention Of States Action president, Mark Meckler, called for new leadership in regards to the situation in Afghanistan.
“There is absolutely no question that the American people are not buying the lies of Afghanistan. This is Saigon, and it’s far worse. Our nation has watched the same group of leaders in Washington D.C. flounder and blunder on foreign policy, on COVID-19, on the border, and on the economy,” Meckler said in a statement. “After spending more than $1 trillion dollars and enduring wounded and dead soldiers, we are confronted with a basecamp of terror, a foreign policy nightmare, and are now less safe here at home. Time for new leadership.”
Biden had previously promised in an April 14 announcement to withdraw all U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan by Sept. 11 in order to end the 20-year conflict between the two countries. That deadline was later rolled back to late August. As the Taliban continuously conquered territories throughout the country, the president vowed not to send troops back into Afghanistan in a July 8 briefing.
“I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome,” Biden said. However, thousands of troops were sent to Afghanistan as the U.S. tries to evacuate Americans who are still there.
Former President Donald Trump called on Biden to “resign in disgrace” over the Taliban’s advancement in Afghanistan and the migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border and surge in COVID-19 cases in a Sunday statement.
“It is time for Joe Biden to resign in disgrace for what he has allowed to happen to Afghanistan, along with the tremendous surge in COVID, the Border catastrophe, the destruction of energy independence, and our crippled economy,” Trump said.