Voters turn on Biden with more than HALF saying it was 'poor decision' to stick to Aug. 31 Afghanistan withdrawal deadline and abandon US citizens
Voters have turned against President Joe Biden on his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, according to a poll published on Monday, with more than a third believing that more than 500 Americans will be left behind after the August 31 deadline.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey found that only 32 per cent of likely voters rated the Biden administration’s handling of the current situation in Afghanistan to be good or excellent. Some 52% said it was poor.
The numbers come after Biden's worst week in office.
On Sunday, he came to face to face with the consequences of his decision to bring home U.S. troops by the end of the month.
He met families of 13 service members killed in a suicide attack outside Kabul airport and then watched in solemn silence as their remains were carried from a C-17 transport plane at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
The deaths of 13 U.S. troops in Kabul last week caused an outpouring of grief and anger at the Biden's administration's handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan
Biden came face to face with the consequences of his decisions when he attended the 'dignified transfer' of the remains of the 13 service members
On Monday evening it emerged that the last troops had left Kabul, but Biden still faces questions about his handling of the withdrawal amid plunging poll numbers
He has faced repeated questions about whether his decision triggered the collapse of the government in Kabul and the rapid return to power of the Taliban.
The new survey found that 50 percent of voters believe Biden's determination to get out military forces by the Tuesday deadline was a bad decision, while just 34 percent were in favor.
It marks a reversal from the days soon after Biden announced his plan in April, setting September 11 as the deadline, when only 32 percent thought it was a bad idea.
Chaotic scenes at the airport and reports of problems reaching flights to safety have also imprinted themselves on voters's minds, according to the survey of 1000 people.
It found that 51 percent now believe more than 100 American civilians will be left behind in Afghanistan after the withdrawal finishes, including 36 percent who think more than 500 will be left behind.
Only 19 percent think the military withdrawal will leave fewer than 50 American civilians stranded in Afghanistan, including eight percent who think no one will be left behind.
That is bad news for an administration that has tried to argue that it has achieved an impressive feat in flying more than 122,000 people to safety, including 5400 Americans.
Officials insist they have the capacity to evacuate the last 300 or so citizens left in Afghanistan who want to leave.
Members of Congress from both sides have kept up criticism of both the decision to withdraw and the way it was implemented.
'We didn’t have to be in this rush-rush circumstance with terrorists breathing down our neck,' said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah on CNN'S State of the Union.
'But it’s really the responsibility of the prior administration and this administration that has caused this crisis to be upon us and has led to what is without question a humanitarian and foreign policy tragedy.'
A string of polls indicates that Biden's personal popularity has also taken a heavy knock.
Last week, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll put his approval rating at 41 percent - far below the range of 50 to 55 percent he enjoyed since being inaugurated.
'Today, President Biden's overall approval has taken a turn for the worse due to his awful job performance rating on Afghanistan,' David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk Political Research Center, told the paper.
Polls suggested he also suffered from a rise in coronavirus case as the Delta variant surged earlier in the summer.
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