While President Biden, and other key members of his national-security team, have been the subject of much criticism and outrage about the rapid fall of Afghanistan under the Taliban — as well as the scenes of chaos and violence as Americans and Afghans try to escape the country — Vice President Kamala Harris has kept an unusually low profile.
It’s a far cry from April 25, when Harris appeared live on CNN’s State of the Union and proudly stated to Dana Bash that she was, according to Bash, “the last person present in the room” when Biden decided to end US involvements in Afghanistan.
“And you feel comfortable [with Biden’s decision]?” Bash followed up.
“I do, and I’m going to add to that,” Harris stated. “This is a president who has an extraordinary amount of courage. He is someone who I have seen over and over again make decisions based on what he truly believes — based on his years of doing this work and studying these issues — what he truly believes is the right thing to do.”
However, with horrific and tragic images emerging seemingly hourly from Afghanistan, Harris has not been seen in public since Thursday, after Harris cut short a meeting with CEOs about the Biden administration’s child-care proposals, to attend an intelligence briefing, as the Taliban launched their final offensive.
She has not been seen in any still photos released by the White House since then. Twitter has been her only public statement. Biden was not able to rally her support, as she had on other occasions.
Harris participated in video conferences on Saturday and Sunday as the Afghan situation deteriorated. Widely mocked images posted on the White House Twitter account show Harris joining the conference from the vice president’s official residence and occupying one of several boxes on a screen in front of Biden, who sat alone in a conference room at Camp David.
Harris’ official account tweeted the image from the Saturday conference. On Monday, after Biden delivered his much-panned statement justifying his decision to pull out US forces, Harris tweeted: “For two decades, our courageous servicemembers put their lives on the line in Afghanistan. We will be forever grateful and proud.
She added that “Ending U.S. Military involvement in Afghanistan is the right choice.”
On Tuesday, Harris doubled down in another tweet that read: “We went to Afghanistan almost 20 years ago. Our mission now is to bring our people, our allies and vulnerable Afghans outside of Afghanistan.
The White House posted a image from Wednesday’s national security briefing on Twitter. Harris was seated to Biden’s left wearing a mask, staring at the briefing book with an expression that could either be read as pensive and pained.
This morning, the President and Vice President were briefed by their national security team on the evolving situation in Afghanistan. They discussed the evacuations of U.S. citizens, SIV applicants, and vulnerable Afghans, and the monitoring of any potential terrorist threats. pic.twitter.com/aRejPzOhgp
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 18, 2021
Harris’ account retweeted the image.
Harris will speak at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention on Thursday to end her silence. The following day, she is scheduled to depart Washington for Singapore and Vietnam, her second overseas sojourn after a rocky trip to Mexico and Guatemala back in June.
While in Southeast Asia, Harris is expected to face tough questions about the signals the Biden administration’s Afghanistan collapse sends to allies on the other side of the continent, who are worried about a saber-rattling China.
Harris’ office didn’t respond to The Post’s questions about whether Harris should have been more visible as the situation in Afghanistan developed, and whether she should be joining Biden for his Monday comments.
