Biden answered a question from CNN debate moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash related to the economy. He went through former President Trump’s tax cuts and the economy under his predecessor’s administration.
President Biden claimed during the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast Thursday night that he is “the only president this century” and “this decade” that did not have any troops “dying anywhere in the world”—failing to acknowledge the 13 fallen service members who were killed during his administration’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.
“The greatest economy in the world? He’s the only one who thinks that,” Biden said of Trump. “I don’t know anybody else who thinks they have the greatest economy in the world.”
FLASHBACK: 13 US SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED IN KABUL AIRPORT BLAST, MORE WOUNDED, OFFICIALS SAY
But Biden shifted to Afghanistan.
“He had the largest tax cut in history–$2 trillion—he raised the deficit larger than any president has at any one time,” Biden continued.
FLASHBACK: ISIS-K SUICIDE BOMBER WAS PRISONER RELEASED FROM BAGRAM AIR BASE, SOURCES SAY
Biden said Trump “didn’t do anything” about Afghanistan.
But during the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal of U.S. troops and assets from Afghanistan, on Aug. 26, 2021, 13 U.S. servicemembers were killed outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport.
“Truth is, I’m the only president this century that doesn’t have—this decade—any troops dying anywhere in the world like he did,” Biden said.
All U.S. forces were removed from Bagram, the largest military base in Afghanistan, in July 2021.
The suicide bombing took the lives of 13 U.S. service members – including 11 Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier. Eighteen other U.S. service members were wounded. The bombing also left more than 150 civilians dead.
Fox News Digital reported that the suicide bomber was a member of ISIS-K who was being held as a prisoner at Bagram Air Base. He was released on Aug. 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized control of the facility.