Vance Claims Vindication After Shooting Suspect ID’ed as Afghan National, Says Friends Were ‘Calling Me a Racist’ for Opposing Refugees
Julia Demaree Nikhinson for the AP
Vice President JD Vance said the shooting of two National Guard members by an Afghan national was a “clarifying moment” that proved the friends who were called him “racist” in 2021 for opposing then-President Joe Biden’s bringing hundreds of thousands of Afghans into the U.S. were wrong.
The vice president shared his thoughts soon after Fox News on Wednesday reported the suspected shooter was Rahmanullah Lakanwal. The 29-year-old entered the U.S. from Afghanistan on a visa in 2021, after the U.S. pulled troops out of the country; his permission to stay in the U.S. expired in September.
“I remember back in 2021 criticizing the Biden policy of opening the floodgate to unvetted Afghan refugees,” Vance posted on X. “Friends sent me messages calling me a racist. It was a clarifying moment.”
He continued, saying Lakanwal and other Afghans “shouldn’t have been in our country.”
Vance then had another post a moment later. He said the shooting would spur the Trump Administration to double down on its efforts to deport more people in the U.S. illegally:
Many of our voters will demand not just words, but action, and this is an entirely appropriate response. We will first bring the shooter to justice, and then we must redouble our efforts to deport people with no right to be in our country.
Already some voices in corporate media chirp that our immigration policies are too harsh. Tonight is a reminder of why they’re wrong.
Vance, in a video posted in 2021, said it was absurd to import a bunch of people who hold views that are incompatible with American society.
“Let’s have an honest question about what exists in Afghanistan. According to Pew, 40% of the people there believe that blowing yourself, committing a suicide bombing, is an acceptable way to solve a problem,” Vance said.
He continued, “So yes, let’s help the Afghans who helped us, but let’s ensure that we’re properly vetting them, so that we don’t get a bunch of people who believe they should blow themselves up at a mall because someone looked at their wife the wrong way.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said on Wednesday evening that both troops were in critical condition.
President Trump said the “animal” who shot the troops will “pay a very steep price.” He also said the shooter was “severely wounded.” Soon after, Pete Hegseth said the president would be sending 500 more Guardsmen to D.C.
“We will bring the perpetrator of this barbaric attack to swift and certain justice, if the bullets going in the opposite direction haven’t already done that,” Trump said on Wednesday night, during a televised statement.
