When GOP Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana was picked by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to be a member on the Democrats’ parody of a Jan. 6 committee, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected both him and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan.
McCarthy went on to withdraw GOP support from the committee entirely, leaving anti-Trump Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois as the “Republican” representation.
Turnabout — particularly when it comes to establishing committees when one is in the majority — is fair play. That’s why the odds aren’t bad that if the Republicans retake the House in the 2022 midterms, we’ll see some kind of panel established by the Republicans to investigate President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Given the fact Banks was excluded from the Jan. 6 committee, it’d be poetic to see Banks included. He certainly has the artwork to bring along with him.
On Friday, Banks tweeted a picture which he said was “[a] message for President Biden and @SpeakerPelosi outside of my office…”
A message for President Biden and @SpeakerPelosi outside of my office… pic.twitter.com/EDqZBonr10
— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) September 3, 2021
The poster — with the infamous shot of Biden checking his watch at the dignified transfer of the remains of the 13 dead U.S. service members this week — included the text, “It’s time to bring every American home.”
According to Fox News, the poster, officially created by the Republican Study Committee, is hanging outside both the offices of Banks and Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds.
“Americans never leave Americans behind — no matter what,” Donalds tweeted later on Friday. “Mr. President, it’s time to bring every American home.”
Joe Biden abandoning hundreds of American citizens in a country overrun by radical terrorists makes him unfit to serve as our Commander in Chief. Americans never leave Americans behind – no matter what.
Mr. President, it’s time to bring every American home. pic.twitter.com/pRI9G7Av1k
— Congressman Byron Donalds (@RepDonaldsPress) September 3, 2021
While it’s unclear how many Americans and Afghan individuals eligible to immigrate under the Special Immigrant Visa program remain in Afghanistan after our withdrawal, it’s estimated that hundreds of Americans were left after U.S. forces left on Monday.
The day before, at the dignified transfer ceremony, Biden appeared to check his watch several times.
Biden appears to check his watch during the dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base. pic.twitter.com/oMsBefnmfS
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) August 29, 2021
In addition, family members of the dead service members said Biden was often rehearsed and curt during private meetings with them. Several said he brought up the death of his son Beau — who served in Iraq as an Army National Guard lawyer but whose death from brain cancer was unrelated to military action.
Taken together, the events of Sunday and Monday have become symbolic for those demanding some kind of accountability from a Biden administration that continues to spin the fall of Afghanistan as a best-case scenario.
“It’s my goal that this poster will be a reminder to @SpeakerPelosi & my Democrat colleagues who refuse to hold this admin accountable for the catastrophe in Afghanistan that left fellow Americans stranded behind enemy lines!” Banks said in a further tweet.
“The USA leaves no man behind.”
It’s my goal that this poster will be a reminder to @SpeakerPelosi & my Democrat colleagues who refuse to hold this admin accountable for the catastrophe in Afghanistan that left fellow Americans stranded behind enemy lines!
The USA leaves no man behind.https://t.co/5ZvhgY6ZZ6
— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) September 3, 2021
Banks would later tweet about an Associated Press report which said, “U.S. officials are looking into reports that in the frantic evacuation of desperate Afghans from Kabul, older men were admitted together with young girls they claimed as ‘brides’ or otherwise sexually abused.”
“Joe Biden left fellow Americans behind enemy lines, but reportedly allowed adult Afghan men to smuggle in child brides,” he tweeted. “The ineptitude of this administration makes me sick to my stomach!”
Joe Biden left fellow Americans behind enemy lines, but reportedly allowed adult Afghan men to smuggle in child brides.
The ineptitude of this administration makes me sick to my stomach! https://t.co/5Y64EAd5nd
— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) September 3, 2021
Whether or not these (and the many other debacles) of the Biden administration’s withdrawal will ever see a congressional investigation depends in large part on the GOP’s fortunes in the 2022 midterms — as well as how long America’s memory of the event holds.
Given the parallels made between the scenes out of Kabul and the U.S. withdrawal from Saigon in 1975, one surmises the electorate will still want answers.
If the Republicans take over the lower chamber and take Pelosi out of the speaker’s chair, they’ll be looking to get them.
What’s clear is that Banks’ poster is a piece of D.C. artwork everyone ought to care about, particularly as potentially hundreds of Americans remain in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. It only gets one thing wrong: It’s not just time to bring every American home, it’s long past time.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
