Ernst ‘afraid of a Benghazi 2.0’ in Afghanistan

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) on Monday said she fears that the situation at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, could turn more deadly as chaos has erupted as people look to flee the country now under Taliban control. 

“Absolutely, I’m afraid of a Benghazi 2.0. I think that this is something that many of us have worried about for weeks now as we have watched this scene deteriorate in Afghanistan,” the Republican said during an appearance on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt’s program. “Well, to me, our embassy personnel being safe means they have been safely evacuated from the country, they’re out of the reach of the Taliban, and not to mention the thousands and thousands of Afghans and other people that supported us in our mission in Afghanistan.” 

Ernst’s Benghazi reference harkens back to the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya where members of an Islamic militant group killed four Americans and injured a handful of others. 

Republicans launched a wide-ranging investigation into the attack and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the months that followed and used the episode as a political cudgel against her as she ran for president in 2016. 

Several people were reported dead on Monday near the airport in Kabul as thousands flocked to the facility following the Afghanistan government’s fall to the Taliban over the weekend. 

“They’re still right there at the airport. And there are many Afghans across the country that will not be able to get to Kabul. They will not be able to be evacuated safely, whether it’s to a third country or otherwise,” Ernst said. 

President Biden, who has slowly been drawing down the number of troops from the war-torn nation over recent weeks, on Saturday announced the U.S. would send an additional 1,000 troops to the area to help evacuate U.S. personnel on the ground. 

Leading Republicans have slammed Biden for the crisis in Afghanistan, saying his troop drawdowns have led to an outcome that has left thousands of people in danger. 

“The Biden Administration’s botched exit from Afghanistan including the frantic evacuation of Americans and vulnerable Afghans from Kabul is a shameful failure of American leadership,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement issued on Sunday. 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called Biden’s decision a “mistake that will haunt us for decades” and hinted at congressional investigations into the intelligence that led to the administration’s move. 

Biden is slated to address the nation regarding the crisis in Afghanistan at 3:45 p.m. on Monday from the White House East Room.