A Republican strategist on CNN bristled Tuesday after MAGA podcaster Megyn Kelly ripped President Donald Trump for potentially dragging the country into a new "quagmire."
Brad Todd said that Republicans, including members of the far-right media sphere, have expressed confusion over what comes next following Trump's attack and ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
"You're seeing a lot of what I'm going to somewhat derisively call new right commentators not know which way to go right now," Todd said. "And, you know, on the one hand, this is the most strikingly successful American military operation in any of our memories. And I flash back, comparing this one to what happened with [former President] Joe Biden's exit from Kabul. It's just night and day different."
In August 2021, the U.S. completed its military withdrawal from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war, with the final troops departing from Kabul amid chaotic scenes that included a devastating suicide bombing at the airport that killed 13 American service members and over 100 Afghan civilians. The hasty withdrawal, which occurred after the Taliban rapidly retook control of the country, became a major political liability for Biden, drawing criticism from both Republicans and some Democrats over the lack of coordination, inadequate planning for Afghan allies seeking evacuation, and the overall manner in which the U.S. ended its longest war.
"His numbers never recovered from it. Now, President Trump's goal is to try to make this be the springboard to his numbers recovering in a similar way," Todd said. "I think he's going to do that. He's going to have to enunciate a plan for what success looks like next and how we get out. And to Lulu's point, you know, there are a finite number of people in any country trained to be soldiers. If you don't pay them to be soldiers, someone else will pay them to be soldiers. And so I think it's not a stupid idea to be paying them to be soldiers right now that are not overthrowing the government."
That plan, which is yet unclear, is something the Trump administration will have to figure out.
"He's going to have to enunciate a plan by which we have a new democratic, elected government in Venezuela that will be an ally of ours. And at what point? That means we can extract ourselves," Todd added.