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— NAVIGATING THE INSANITY* —

With all of the lies, conspiracy theories, hyperbolic rhetoric, and false accusations routinely coming out of Donald Trump’s mouth (and that of his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance) on a regular basis, it is truly surprising that there seem to be some bridges even the former president’s campaign does not want to cross.

During a rally on Wednesday, Vance accused Harris of “treason” for her role in the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The GOP vice presidential nominee said that withdrawal was “the worst humiliation this country has endured since the fall of Saigon, and Kamala Harris said she is proud of what she did.”

Then, when a man in the audience yelled that this was “treason,” Vance concurred.

“It was treason,” he told the audience.

As per usual when Trump or Vance speak, an extensive fact check is required, so here we go.

It was Trump who reached an agreement with the Taliban that would ensure a drastic reduction of US troops from Afghanistan (as well as the release of 5,000 imprisoned members of the Taliban).

When he left office, only 2,500 US troops remained in the country.

President Joe Biden then completed that withdrawal, which ended up being quite chaotic. This included a suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport that killed 13 US service members and about 170 Afghan civilians.

A State Department after-action report placed blame for the deteriorating situation in the country at the feet of both administrations.

“The decisions of both President Trump and President Biden to end the US military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security,” the document stated.

That’s the first problem with Vance’s statement.

The second is that there is no record of Harris saying she was “proud of what she did.” She noted that she agreed with the decision to withdraw, and that she was grateful and proud of the courageous US service members who risked their lives in Afghanistan.

For two decades, our courageous servicemembers put their lives on the line in Afghanistan. We will always be grateful—and proud.

Ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan is the right decision.

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) August 17, 2021

Finally, even if Harris were proud of a decision that (unintentionally) resulted in chaos and the death of Americans, that would not constitute “treason.”

“Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States,” the US Code says.

Therefore, completing a troop withdrawal that was begun by one’s predecessor is not treason, which is probably the most serious crime you can accuse a US government official of.

It’s not even treason to release 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison… that’s just bad decision-making on the part of Trump.

In any case, it appears as though the former president’s campaign realized that Vance had gone too far.

After initially highlighting what Vance said, (captured in the screenshot below), it quickly deleted a tweet featuring the exchange between the audience member and the senator.

However, if you want to see what happened, the campaign did not (yet) delete a longer clip that includes Vance accusing Harris of treason.

We probably shouldn’t get used to the Trump campaign walking back lies, but it’s nice to see that even for them, a baseless accusation of “treason” is going too far.

*In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else. 

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