Bill Kristol: People in My Circle Who Voted for Biden Don’t Expect to Support Him Again

Appearing Tuesday on CNN’s The Lead, The Bulwark editor-at-large and Never Trump pundit Bill Kristol said people in his social circle who voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 will likely not support him again in the wake of the fatally botched withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

(Watch from: 4:02)

Has Biden lived up to his promise of bringing competence back to the White House? @lbarronlopez @mariatcardona @BillKristol @OKnox discuss pic.twitter.com/zcDz4ydT5D

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) August 31, 2021

A transcript is as follows: 

JAKE TAPPER: You’ve been fairly supportive of President Biden, but not of the execution of this withdrawal. I think you also support a residual counter-terrorism force left in the country, right?

BILL KRISTOL: I would have, yes.

TAPPER: What do you think the political effects of this will be? You’ve been a foreign policy guy for a long time, enough to know the American people don’t care all that much about it.

KRISTOL: They don’t, unless things really go bad. If it becomes part of a broader narrative of not being up to the job. […] The range of outcomes of what could happen in Afghanistan in the world, as a result of Afghanistan, in terms of terror or other radicals being inspired, or not, that’s a big range of outcomes. We don’t know how that will look, obviously. By 2015, the world unbelievably dangerous with refugee flow etc. Individual voters don’t separate issues out quite as much. I do think, and I’ve been struck just talking to people near me, who voted for Biden — there were some swing voters — say gee I’m glad I voted for him, I’m glad it’s not Trump, but I don’t think I can vote for him again and also at the congressional level, we need to check some of this stuff. The speech he gave today was very indicative. it’s not the speech he should have given.