On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” former Obama Defense Secretary and former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said that while he is endorsing the candidacy of 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, “was sloppy. It shouldn’t have been done that way. It was a black mark, I think, on the Biden-Harris administration.”
Co-host Brianna Keilar asked, “Former President Trump will often criticize Harris or Biden on foreign policy. He’ll say, look at what’s happened in the Middle East, look at what has happened with Russia invading Ukraine, that wouldn’t have happened if he were in power. He’ll say, look at what happened in Afghanistan with how the withdrawal was carried out under the Biden-Harris administration. What do you say to that?”
Hagel responded, “Well, on the withdrawal in Afghanistan, that was sloppy. It shouldn’t have been done that way. It was a black mark, I think, on the Biden-Harris administration.”
He continued, “As to the other two issues, and I’ve heard Mr. Trump’s comments about this, if he had been president, those things would have never happened. Oh, come on, that’s nonsense. Those two issues are defined by the realities and the dynamics of those two situations. Putin started this in 2014. I don’t think there was any surprise about where he was going next and when he was going. Certainly, we told Zelensky about it and the Ukrainians and NATO. As far as the Middle East, the Middle East has been the Middle East for many, many years. There’s a real disaster — political disaster in Israel. And, unfortunately, what happened October 7, I think, just clarified that even more. And obviously, the Israelis had to respond. So, to say that if he had been president, those things would have never happened, is just nonsense.”
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