Republican representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado is facing a massive backlash online for her insensitive joke about Afghans who fell off a US military plane on Monday in their desperation to get out of the strife-torn country.
In a tweet, accompanying the video of hundreds of Afghan men swarming a US military plane as it taxied on the runway, Ms Boebert said: “At least they won’t have to read mean tweets.”
Reports said that several men fell to their deaths after the plane took off.
She also appeared to root for the Taliban that took control of Afghanistan two days ago by saying that the militant group was “building back better.”
Taking aim at president Joe Biden, she tweeted: “The Taliban are the only people building back better.”
Ms Boebert’s “joke” angered many who accused the congresswoman of having no spine and one even asked her to delete her account.
Some social media users also dug out her February tweet in which she called out Mr Biden for delaying the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. She had said: “We need to end the endless wars.”
One user called Ms Boebert “Taliban’s new press secretary” while another said that “the only war she ever fought was against America.”
On Monday, President Biden addressed the nation from the White House and said he stood “squarely behind” his decision. “After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces,” he said.
