Florida Rep. Byron Donalds delivered a blistering indictment of the Biden administration, drawing a direct line between the botched 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan and the murder of a West Virginia National Guard soldier in the nation’s capital.
Speaking just hours after officials confirmed the death of 20-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, Donalds tore into the vetting policies of the previous administration, arguing the tragedy was the inevitable result of political negligence.
“This is disgusting, and this has Democrat fingerprints all over it,” Donalds said during an interview on Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt Tonight.
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The suspect, identified by officials as an Afghan national who worked with a CIA-backed unit before entering the U.S. in 2021, is accused of ambushing Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe near the White House.
Donalds characterized the suspect’s entry into the country as a product of “reckless” decisions made during the chaotic exit from Kabul.
“We were being told just get people to the United States as quickly as possible, and then the Biden team would do the necessary work of vetting everybody,” Donalds said. “None of us believed that on Capitol Hill. So now, four years later, we have an Afghan national in the streets of Washington, D.C. who decided to shoot to kill.”
The Florida Republican went further, naming Democrats Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly as part of a party structure that he claims allowed foreign nationals to enter “at will with no checks.”
“The Democrats have demonstrated time and time again when they have power, reckless things happen to the United States of America,” Donalds added.
“The Death Penalty Is Back”
While Donalds focused on the political roots of the attack, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a stark promise regarding the consequences. Reacting to Beckstrom’s death, Bondi vowed that the justice system would not be lenient.
“Devastated. Please pray for Sarah’s family. America will never forget her courage,” Bondi said in a statement. “There WILL BE JUSTICE for Sarah… Thank you to President Trump — the death penalty is back.”
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“Savage Monster”
The news of Beckstrom’s passing was first broken by President Donald Trump during a Thanksgiving call with U.S. troops. Trump revealed that Beckstrom had succumbed to her injuries while Sgt. Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition.
“She’s just passed away,” Trump told the troops. “She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now.”
The President, who has deployed Guard members to assist with his administration’s mass deportation efforts, condemned the shooter as a “savage monster” and labeled the ambush a “terrorist attack.”
“This atrocity reminds us that we have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country,” Trump said. “For the most part, we don’t want them.”
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