Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert caused a massive stir on Monday when she tweeted that “the Taliban are the only people building back better,” referencing President Joe Biden’s campaign slogan.
The outspoken Colorado congresswoman is not backing down to the outraged crowd, however.
Defending her tweet, Rep. Boebert said “there’s a difference between ending a war and running out of town. Leftists don’t like my ‘building back better’ tweet because it’s true.”
The Taliban are the only people building back better.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) August 16, 2021
Rep. Boebert told the Daily Caller that the chaos in Afghanistan is “what happens when our leaders put America last.”
“The Taliban has taken billions of dollars of American military equipment and will use it against us. This is what happens when our leaders put America last. It’s a travesty. In 2021 America has seen decline while the Taliban is on the rise. Thanks, Joe Biden.”
The report noted that “Boebert, a gun-rights proponent, was one of 16 Republican members of the House of Representatives to vote against a bill that would expedite visa applications for Afghan translators and others who aided the U.S.”
White House National security adviser Jake Sullivan admitted on Tuesday that the Taliban has seized significant troves of weapons left behind by the US military.
“We don’t have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone but certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban, and obviously, we don’t have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us at the airport,” Sullivan said at the White House briefing.
Weapons obtained by the Taliban include guns, ammunition and even Blackhawk helicopters.
Sullivan blamed the Afghan Army for allowing the weapons and helicopters to be taken by the Taliban.
“Those Blackhawks were not given to the Taliban. They were given to the Afghan national security forces to be able to defend themselves at the specific request and President Ghani who came to the Oval Office and asked for additional air capability, among other things,” Sullivan said.
When asked during the Pentagon briefing about what steps were being taken to keep weapons from falling into the hands of the Taliban, Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor said that he did not have an answer to that question.
“I don’t have the answer to that question,” he responded.
