President Joe Biden ordered a hasty, chaotic, and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving hundreds of Americans stranded there on August 31. Ironically, Biden had promised — repeatedly — to leave “no one behind” there, or anywhere.
Biden broke a specific promise not to leave Afghanistan until all Americans had been rescued:
But that’s only the beginning.
The tagline — leave “nobody behind” or “no one behind” — has been a part of Biden’s stump speech since at least the 2019-2020 Democratic presidential primary. He has used it in several speeches, including his speech to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, and he has tweeted it frequently from his official account.
Sometimes, he uses the phrase to refer tp economic equality. But always, he insists that leaving “no one behind” is a core American value — one that, he once claimed, President Donald Trump did not share.
Now, Biden has proven just how empty that promise, that principle, is to him.
“In this nation, we believe, when we’re at our best, we believe in honesty, decency, treating everyone with respect, giving everyone a fair shot, leaving nobody behind, giving hate no safe harbor, demonizing no one, not the poor, the powerless, the immigrant or the other, leading by the power of our example, not by the example of our power.” – Burlington, Iowa, August 7, 2019
“As Americans, I’m confident we believe in honesty and decency, treating everyone with dignity and respect, giving everyone a fair shot, leaving no one behind, giving hate no safe harbor, and demonizing no one.” – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 31, 2019
“America’s an idea, an idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful dictator or tyrant. It gives hope. In this nation, we believe in honesty, decency, treating everyone with respect, giving anyone a fair shot, living nobody behind, giving hate no safe harbor, leading by the power of our example, not by the example of our power, that’s allowed us to stand as a beacon to the world, being part of something bigger than ourselves. It’s a code. It’s a uniquely American code, the most powerful idea in the history of the world.” – Democratic National Convention, August 20, 2020
“You’re showing how this town, this state, this country takes care of our own, leaves nobody behind.” – Kalamazoo, Michigan, February 18, 2021
“I know the stress, the trauma, the grief you carry. But you give us hope. You keep us going. You remind us that we do take care of our own. That we leave nobody behind.” – White House, Washington, DC, February 22, 2021
“And it’s our job to help everyone in need. Look out for one another. Leave nobody behind.” – February 26, 2021
“We will leave no one behind.” – Dearborn, Michigan, May 18, 2021
“Everybody is on the same team. It’s what America is all about. It’s about pulling together, leaving nobody behind.” – July 1, 2021
“We Americans, we believe in honesty and decency and treating everyone with dignity and respect, giving everyone a fair shot, demonizing no one, giving hate no safe harbor and leaving no one behind.” – White House, Washington, DC, July 4, 2021
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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