CNN national security analyst embarrasses herself trying to dunk on Trump over Taliban comment

CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem, a lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, was among the droves of liberals who rushed to social media this week to ridicule former President Donald Trump over factual claims he made in Tuesday's debate.

Kayyem's experience working in the Obama administration and serving as a member of the National Commission on Terrorism failed to prepare her for the task of dunking on Trump. She suggested that Trump's accurate identification of a founding member of the Taliban present for the U.S.-Taliban peace talks in Doha was a clear indication of his "racism and senility."

Having taken her shot and missed, the CNN analyst is now facing widespread ridicule.

What Kayyem said

The CNN analyst wrote on X, "It's such a minor point but I cannot stop thinking that Trump casually calling the head of Taliban 'Abdul' is a perfect mix of his ignorance, racism and senility in just a single word."

'You cannot be this stupid.'

It appears Kayyem suffered the same short-term memory loss as MSNBC's Chris Hayes, who concluded that Trump "invented a head of the Taliban named Abdul."

"It's not the name of the head of the Taliban," continued Hayes. "Just to be clear, he just like randomly named him."

What Kayyem (and Hayes) failed to understand

During the debate Tuesday, Kamala Harris was asked whether she bears any blame for her administration's disastrous and deadly Afghanistan withdrawal, which she previously boasted signing off on.

Harris once again displaced accountability, intimating the withdrawal was ill-fated on account of Trump's previous negotiations with the Taliban.

Trump said in response:

I got involved with the Taliban because the Taliban was doing the killing. That's the fighting force within Afghanistan. They don't bother doing that because you know, they deal with the wrong people all the time. But I got involved. And Abdul is the head of the Taliban. He is still the head of the Taliban. And I told Abdul don't do it anymore, you do it anymore you're going to have problems. And he said why do you send me a picture of my house? I said you're going to have to figure that out, Abdul. And for 18 months we had nobody killed. We did have an agreement negotiated by Mike Pompeo. It was a very good agreement.

The 2020 deal in Doha was signed by U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Abdul Ghani Baradar, reported the BBC.

Abdul Ghani Baradar is a founding member of the Taliban. Once the Taliban took over Afghanistan, Baradar became deputy prime minister. He remains among the top four leaders in the Taliban.

Trump made clear at the time of the deal with Baradar, "If bad things happen, we'll go back with a force like no one's ever seen."

The Biden-Harris administration dropped the ball on the talks initiated by Trump officials and let the Taliban overwhelm friendly Afghan forces in the late phases of American withdrawal.

What people are saying

Critics seized upon Kayyem's tweet, questioning the value of the education that Harvard Kennedy School students might receive in her classes as well as the CNN analyst's ability to run a simple Google search.

Australian political commentator Rita Panahi responded to Kayyeem, tweeting, "You cannot be this stupid."

American country musician John Rich wrote, "A 'national security analyst' as it says in her profile, doesn't realize that the founder of the Taliban, is in fact named, 'Abdul.' Full name is Abdul Ghani Baradar. Hard to believe the complete ignorance of the people in 'control' right now. Wow."

"The co-founder of the Taliban is Abdul Ghani Baradar, you emotionally stunted, Cluster B trainwreck," tweeted the Redheaded Libertarian.

Entrepreneur Nate Fischer, the CEO of New Founding, said, "The Harvard Kennedy School attracts an exceptional combo of stupid + arrogant. Some of the most insufferable people I have encountered in my life."

This is not the first time that Kayyem has given critics cause to doubt her stability or the value of her insights.

She told the Advocate last year that Chaya Raichik's use of her Libs of TikTok account on X was a prime example of "stochastic terrorism."

Kayyem suggested in 2022 that the Biden-Harris administration should halt immigration enforcement in the region of Texas where the Uvalde school shooting took place because of its large Hispanic population.

During the Freedom Convoy in Canada, when truckers were protesting the Canadian government's draconian COVID-19 vaccine mandates and travel restrictions, Kayyem recommended that authorities "slash the tires, empty gas tanks, arrest the drivers and move the trucks." The CNN analyst got her way when the Trudeau regime unconstitutionally invoked martial law to crush the protests.

In 2021, Kayyem melted down over a Southwest pilot saying, "Let's go Brandon," over a plane intercom. She demanded the pilot be fired and that every passenger file a complaint with the FAA.

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