Opportunistic Republicans have taken to the airwaves to attack President Joe Biden over the chaos that unfolded in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US forces from the war-torn country. One prominent Republican, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is trying to re-write history by blaming the president for the mess the Trump administration started.
But MSNBC’s Medhi Hasan on Thursday threw Pompeo’s own words back in his face after he claimed that he always believed the Taliban were evil and untrustworthy.
In a split-screen video posted on the Twitter account of Hasan’s show, Pompeo starts out by saying he knew the Taliban were “butchers” when he negotiated with them on behalf of former President Donald Trump.
“I knew exactly who I was sitting across the table from,” Pompeo said. “These are evil people.”
However, the video then played a clip of Pompeo during his tenure as America’s top diplomat praising the Taliban after conducting successful negotiations with them.
“We have seen the senior Taliban leadership working diligently to reduce violence,” he said. “We still have confidence that the Taliban leadership is working to deliver.”
Another clip shows Pompeo saying that the Taliban signed a document saying they would “break their relationship” with al-Qaeda and that “they would work alongside of us.”
Watch the video below.
Mike Pompeo is trying to rewrite history with Afghanistan. But don’t worry, we use the magic of TV to set the record straight. pic.twitter.com/sM5ZZ2REEE
— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) August 27, 2021
