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Kamala Harris slammed for 'running away from the mess' as she flies to SE Asia amid Kabul fiasco

'Why don't you send your plane to Kabul...it's actually needed there,' wrote one user as Kamala Harris smiled and waved

In the midst of President Joe Biden's administration being blamed for the mishandling of the Afghan crisis since the Taliban took over the country days after the US pulled troops from the land, Vice President Kamala Harris flew to Singapore to begin a South Asian trip on Friday, August 20. 

The trip, which also includes Vietnam as one of the stops, will see the VP staying away from Washington DC for a week. Harris' second international trip as vice president comes in the midst of the biggest crisis of Biden's presidency, even as the 56-year-old insisted that the administration remained focused on Afghanistan, despite her absence from public view all week. "We couldn't have a higher priority right now," she said. "And a particular high priority is making sure that we safely evacuate American citizens, Afghans who worked for them, Afghans at risk — including women and children. And that is one of our highest, if not the highest, priority right now. And it's a big area of focus for me in the past days and weeks, and will continue to be."

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Officials have also assured the people of the US that Harris will continue to work on Afghanistan while in Asia. Harris will not be returning to Washington DC on her way back from her tour, but instead detour en route home to California, to campaign on behalf of Governor Gavin Newsom, as he faces a recall election. Harris announced her tour to South East Asia via a tweet where she was seen smiling and waving at the cameras as she prepared to board the Air Force Two.

"On our way to Southeast Asia to visit Singapore and Vietnam," she captioned the picture that did not go down well with the social media users, many of whom pointed out the bad "optics" of the photo-op, especially in the light of hundreds of US citizens and allies waiting to avail a flight out of Kabul as they flee the brutal Islamic regime.

'Why don't you send your plane to Kabul'

"Afghanistan? Trapped Americans? Ring any bells? Get them rescued and brought home!" one of them said while another asked, "…who are you waving to?" A third noted, "Interesting optics. On the heels of a flood of very unfavorable comparisons between events in Afghanistan today and Vietnam 50 years ago, the WH chooses to send the VP to Vietnam. Hopefully whoever planned this knows what they're doing..." One more remarked, "Just bothered by this tweet. The largest airlift in American history is going down right now. Reports of Americans being attacked by the Taliban. And you post a picture of yourself waving from AF2 on your way to SE Asia."

The next commented, "why don't you send your plane to Kabul...it's actually needed there." One more quipped, "The 'optics' really? What about 'Afghanistan'! And I’m a Democrat!" A commenter tweeted, "The complete lack of self awareness here is…stunning." Another said, "Running away from the mess you helped create eh." A person reacted with, "Sooo, still nothing about Afghanistan?" One of them stated, "What? You’re leaving Joe just when the poop is hitting the fan? If he wasn’t briefed, those who didn’t brief him are guilty of dereliction of duty, more importantly if he didn’t seek briefings, so he could choose the best option, that’s a also a dereliction…"