After the Taliban took complete control of Afghanistan, a number of Republican House members released scathing remarks against the Biden Administration. One Florida lawmaker who took issue with President Biden’s withdrawal is Florida Rep. Brian Mast (R). A veteran, Mast shared a statement to honor his “Alive Day,” remembering the bombing that altered his life 11 years ago. Moreover, he expressed that President Biden “has sentenced Americans and thousands of Afghans who were our friends and allies to death.”
“I want to share my reflections on the situation in Afghanistan 11 years after being blown up,” said Mast, recounting the tragedy took occurred on September 19, 2010 when he “discovered the last explosive device I ever found by stepping on it.” Since then, he shared that Afghanistan lies heavy on his mind, and “it is clear to me that the fight for freedom won’t be won unless we all work together.”
After being struck by the explosive, Mast says he only survived “because when the bomb went off, my fellow soldiers ran towards the explosion instead of away.”
As a result, “just like I’d be dead if my fellow soldiers hadn’t run toward that explosion, our country stands no chance of surviving if we don’t work together now to defend liberty and freedom here at home.”
The message also comes as support for Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) in his reelection bid against Florida Rep. Val Demings (D) while also criticizing President Biden and the Administration’s response to the political turmoil in Afghanistan.
Senator Rubio, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has also been critical of the Biden Administration, sharing that the Intelligence Committee had warned against withdrawal efforts.
On Twitter, the Florida Republican lamented that “we are now witnessing how true our warnings to them were.”
In his message to supporters, Mast argued that “Joe Biden has proven that he cares more about political optics than the common good.”
