Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) slammed President Joe Biden in response to emotional testimony last week from Tyler Vargas-Andrews, a Marine sergeant during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying that the U.S. is in “enormous” danger under Biden.
Vargas-Andrews appeared in front of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to speak about his experience in Afghanistan. A Marine sniper at the time, Vargas-Andrews and his team were ordered from Saudi Arabia to Kabul, Afghanistan, in August of 2021 to oversee the final weeks of the U.S. withdrawal.
Vargas-Andrews said his team asked twice for permission to take out a man they suspected of being a suicide bomber. The first time, he was denied. The second time, the battalion commander, who came to Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport to see the suspect himself, replied, “I don’t know” if they had the authority to take out the suspect.
The terrorist later detonated his vest, killing 13 U.S. service members and hundreds of Afghan civilians, injuring hundreds more.
When asked on his podcast “The Verdict” by co-host Ben Ferguson how concerned he was about U.S. national security following the Marine’s testimony, Cruz responded that he was “Enormously concerned.”
“Every enemy of America saw that disaster. Putin saw it. Xi saw it. Iran saw it. North Korea saw it. Venezuela saw it. Every terrorist cell across the globe, they all saw it,” Cruz said. “And all of them came to the same conclusion, which is this is a commander-in-chief who is weak and incompetent. This is a commander-in-chief who is afraid to fight. This is a commander-in-chief unwilling to do what it takes even to defend his own servicemen and women, never mind anyone else.”
“And we’re seeing the consequences of it right now with the war in Ukraine, the first major land war in Europe since World War II. And we’re seeing the consequences of it in the Pacific with China more and more aggressive and Taiwan in greater and greater peril,” he continued. “And I’ll tell you, I met today with Taiwan’s ambassador, and I told the ambassador, I said, ‘Look, I think the danger that Taiwan is in for the next two years of the Biden presidency is enormous.’ Because Xi looked at what happened here and concluded this President is not strong enough to deter us from doing anything.”
Cruz later repeated the sentiment on Twitter, writing: “Every enemy of America saw Joe Biden’s disaster in Afghanistan and took note.”
“Biden is weak, incompetent, and afraid to fight,” he added. “As a result, we’re in ENORMOUS danger!”
Every enemy of America saw Joe Biden’s disaster in Afghanistan and took note.
Biden is weak, incompetent, and afraid to fight.
As a result, we’re in ENORMOUS danger!
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 11, 2023