Former CA Gov. Jerry Brown Defends Biden’s ‘Courageous’ Handling of Withdrawal From Afghanistan: Bush, Obama, Trump ‘Didn’t Have the Guts’

Former Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) defended President Joe Biden‘s handling of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Sunday, saying “obviously we had to get out,” and that the president’s predecessors “didn’t have the guts” to do what he did.

“Biden was very courageous, and there’s so much hypocrisy,” Brown told CNN’s Jim Acosta. “Look, the Afghan war, very soon after we went over there, it was over…We took out the Al Qaeda. We chased after bin Laden. We stayed there too long. Bush should have gotten us out. Obama should have gotten us out, Trump. But they were all afraid of exactly what’s happening. They didn’t have the guts that Joe Biden had.”

Brown said it was possible that Biden wasn’t told how bad the situation was, comparing it to how former President John F. Kennedy “was fooled by the CIA and his army when he launched the Bay of Pigs.”

Biden has widely been criticized both for his decision to pull out of Afghanistan — and how he has gone about following through on it — with some comparing the Fall of Saigon to the Taliban taking over Kabul.

The withdrawal itself has come under scrutiny due to the immediate gains by the Taliban, challenges evacuating U.S. forces, and issues with granting Special Immigrant Visas to Afghan translators and others who assisted the American military.

Despite the messy withdrawal process, many, including Brown, believe that it was time for U.S. troops to leave Afghanistan since they have been there for 20 years.

“Look, this was not a war that was fought. It wasn’t being fought,” Brown said. “We had firepower to kill Taliban. But our friends, our allies gave up. They didn’t have a rationale. Their only rationale was America was there, and they were fighting. But when push comes to shove, they are more aligned with the Taliban, or at least they’re not ready to die for them, so obviously Biden had to get out. Are we going to stay another 20 years?”

Brown went on to say that Biden “will be attacked by the very people that got us in there and got us to stay in there.”

Indeed, former president George W. Bush sharply criticized Biden’s decision to pull out from Afghanistan, saying that “the consequences are going to be unbelievably bad” and he is “afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm.”

Brown, however, criticized Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump all for being “afraid” to pull out U.S. troops.

“Why didn’t they do anything?” Brown said. “Because they’re afraid. They’re afraid exactly what happened. How do you get out of a quagmire? It’s not pretty, but at least Biden has taken the step, and the next step is to think through how do we get in these messes?”

“What new messes are waiting for us in our 800 bases and absolute overextension where we’re meddling all over the world and we’re not taking care of business at home at our own border with Mexico?” he asked.

Watch above, via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet Newsletter
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!