Old video clips of Vice President JD Vance have resurfaced across social media following a horrific terror attack linked to an Afghan refugee on Wednesday— and for good reason.
They provide an illuminating light following a violent strike on two National Guard members serving in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Both National Guardsmen remain in critical condition as of the latest reporting, after being ambushed by a gunman identified as 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Lakanwal, according to CNN, entered the United States on a temporary visa issued to him in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a program designed to coordinate the evacuation, processing, and resettlement of vulnerable Afghan nationals in the aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Some of those Afghan nationals had worked alongside U.S. forces.
Vance, even during his time as a Senate candidate in Ohio, expressed valid concerns about resettling Afghan refugees. There was no proper vetting process in place, and the botched military withdrawal under former President Biden was expediting the process to unsafe levels.
Vance saw it. He knew this presented a problem.
One of the earlier examples of that involved Vance, who had just entered the political arena, getting into a dustup with then-Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), whose oft-squishy views on bringing refugees into the United States had put them at odds with one another.
Sasse, as Biden’s failed withdrawal was heating up, argued that the United States had an obligation to help those who had helped the country, urging the Biden administration to “go faster and save the Americans and Afghan allies behind enemy lines.”