Up until around a month ago, former President Donald Trump was taking credit for the withdrawal of American troops in Afghanistan after 20 years of war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives and nearly a trillion dollars.
As he did with brutal leaders like North Korea's Kim Jong Un and Russia's Vladimir Putin, the Trump administration extended unprecedented goodwill toward the Taliban, the radical fundamentalist group that harbored al-Qaeda after the September 11 Attacks. The Trump administration freed thousands of Taliban prisoners and even invited its leaders to Camp David for talks during the week of September 11.
Now, as the Biden administration faces widespread criticism for the disastrous withdrawal of troops and the unforeseen speed of the Taliban's retaking of Afghanistan, Trump continues to praise the organization.
Trump made the comments in an interview with far-right Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Watch below.
Trump claims that the Taliban, which formed in 1994, has been "fighting for a thousand years" pic.twitter.com/Es8T7bf29b
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 18, 2021
Falsely claiming the Taliban had been fighting for a thousand years, the former President said:
"But I had a very, very strong talk with the Taliban, which I considered to be much more important in this sense, because they were the problem. And they have been there for a long time. And they're good fighters and they fight hard. And after I said that, we had a pretty good conversation."
Trump was once again praising America's enemies.
The mind just reels and reels... https://t.co/YHdMr8K50t— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷) 1629253907.0
Trump: "And the Taliban, good fighters, I will tell you, they're good fighters. We have to give them credit for tha… https://t.co/EDpDnbPBqu— Ollie Bebe 🌊🌊🌊 (@Ollie Bebe 🌊🌊🌊) 1629299612.0
“They’re good fighters, the Taliban. You have to give them credit for that,” says TFG. This is your guy, @GOP? https://t.co/OyrdEUO8v2— Maureen Beck (@Maureen Beck) 1629285077.0
"Good fighters " Lmfao is Trump even an American? https://t.co/CbmEbSEiYe— Ms _Gupta 🇿🇦 (@Ms _Gupta 🇿🇦) 1629260589.0
"Good fighters that have been fighting for thousands of years". I cant believe he is "praising" the Taliban after a… https://t.co/lA24iBlY3W— Alma (@Alma) 1629288379.0
#Trump can never stop himself from Lavishing praise On Bad Guys.He’s always had a Sick fascination& Admiration, for… https://t.co/5YIe8hojxg— CRD (@CRD) 1629287997.0
For many, the interview demonstrated Trump's ignorance on the foreign policy dynamics he once oversaw.
The people who don't know history are the same ones now trying to dictate what history classes look like. https://t.co/Aew9aLjstE— Hemant Mehta (@Hemant Mehta) 1629251146.0
I see his brain is still a shower loofah soaked in barbasol https://t.co/VdCyAy0aIc— Barrett Tomek (@Barrett Tomek) 1629250909.0