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Sen. Lindsey Graham says he 'will never forgive' Biden over the Afghanistan withdrawal, declaring their friendship all but over

Nov 11, 2021, 04:27 IST
Business Insider
From 2008: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Alex Wong/Getty Images for Meet the Press
  • Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham went on an emotional diatribe against President Biden Wednesday.
  • Graham, who had enjoyed a decades-long friendship with Biden, said he reached his breaking point.
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Despite his efforts at mending their decades-long friendship as former Senate colleagues, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham rebuked President Joe Biden on Wednesday over his decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan.

"I've known Joe Biden for a long time," Graham said during an appearance on the Fox News show "America's Newsroom" Wednesday morning. "I had a good personal relationship with him. He's a decent man, but what he did in Afghanistan, I will never forgive him for."

Appearing distraught, Graham recounted recent developments of ISIS violence in the nation despite promises of peaceful times from the Taliban.

"He has blood on his hands, and he's made America less safe," Graham said. "And he's been the most consistently wrong man on foreign policy in my lifetime."

Graham also predicted a 9/11-like attack would come as a result of the withdrawal but did not cite any specific intelligence or a specific group to back up that claim.

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While defending the Kabul airport amid evacuations, 13 American service members were killed in a terrorist attack back in August.

Biden has defended the withdrawal as an "extraordinary success" and said the nation's longest war "should have ended a long time ago."

The US-backed Afghan government collapsed in August weeks before US troops could fully depart the country. That surprised Biden and top aides, as they believed that the government could last for months or years. The rapid collapse led to chaotic scenes around Kabul's airport as people sought to flee the Taliban.

Airlifts evacuated nearly 130,000 people, but Taliban control of the country and the massive crowds around the airport prevented the US from recovering every American who sought to flee. An estimated 200 remain despite wanting to leave.

Before former President Donald Trump's ascension to the White House, Graham and Biden enjoyed a chummy relationship from across the aisle.

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"The bottom line is, if you can't admire Joe Biden as a person, then it's probably - you've got a problem," Graham said with a chuckle during a car-ride interview during his 2016 presidential bid. "You need to do some self-evaluation. 'Because what's not to like?"

In the 2016 interview, Graham described Biden as "the nicest person I think I've ever met in politics."

"He is as good a man as God ever created," Graham added.

During his Fox News appearance, the South Carolina senator took a more scorched-earth approach.

"I can't wait until the next election to stop this socialist train on the domestic side and have a chance to get a commander in chief who knows how to keep this country safe," Graham said. "When it comes to Joe Biden, he's made America less safe, and he's acted in a very dishonorable way."

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