Biden's decision to pull out troops was backed by most Americans, 53%-38%. But almost two-thirds, 62%, disapproved of the way his administration has handled that withdrawal.
"He basically handed the Taliban all these weapons, and he's inspired a resurgent ISIS now," said Aubrey Schlumbrecht, 51, from Lakewood, Colorado, who was among those polled. "He is not even taking any responsibility. He says he owns it, but he's blaming other people and he's blaming the Afghan people themselves."
John Plaskowsky, 55, a business manager from Suwannee, Georgia, said the news media's coverage of the tumultuous withdrawal has been unfair to Biden.
"I would say probably for the last 10 years they've been ignoring Afghanistan, then President Biden gets handed a horrible deal from the previous administration," he said in a follow-up interview. While noting that he is a Republican, he said former president Donald Trump played a role by negotiating with the Taliban for a U.S. withdrawal that was supposed to be completed by May 1.
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