In the aftermath of a terror attack near the White House, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) has pointed to President Donald Trump's decision to deploy National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., as a contributing factor. The incident, which resulted in the death of National Guard soldier Sarah Beckstrom and left Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe critically injured, has ignited a political firestorm.
On a recent CNN appearance, Rep. Schultz condemned President Trump's actions, suggesting that the presence of troops incited the assailant to commit the act of terror. She argued that the deployment was an unnecessary provocation and that local law enforcement was capable of managing the city's security. Schultz labeled President Trump's response to the tragedy as "disgusting" and implied that he refuses to accept responsibility for the outcomes of his decisions.
The White House quickly responded, decrying the comments as a political maneuver. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson countered by attributing the presence of the attacker, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, to lax border and refugee policies under former President Joe Biden. Jackson stressed that the Trump administration is committed to expelling violent offenders and criticized Democrats for obstructing these efforts.
The debate intensified as liberal commentators and left-wing media figures rallied to Schultz's defense, accusing President Trump of endangering National Guard members by sending them to Democrat-controlled cities for political reasons. Some have argued that these deployments created a hostile environment that contributed to Beckstrom's death.
The Daily Mail reported that Lakanwal, who launched the fatal attack on Wednesday, was part of the mass-entry program during Biden's administration that granted nearly 200,000 Afghans entry into the United States. Critics of President Trump overlooked this fact, instead focusing on the asylum granted to Lakanwal during his presidency.
Additional context from The Washington Post revealed that Lakanwal had previous affiliations with a CIA-backed paramilitary group in Afghanistan, a detail that has led some to question the approval of his asylum under the Trump administration, despite his entry into the U.S. occurring under Biden's tenure.
The administration has defended the role of the National Guard, emphasizing their contribution to public safety in cities experiencing increased violence. The White House also condemned the critics for ignoring the crime surge and the necessity of federal support.
President Trump has a history of deploying National Guard troops to assist in quelling unrest in various cities, a move that has consistently been met with disapproval from Democratic officials opposed to federal intervention in their local jurisdictions.
The contentious issue reached a critical point hours before the attack when the Trump administration filed an emergency appeal to contest a ruling that deemed the D.C. troop deployment illegal. This legal action and the request for an additional 500 troops coincided with the tragic shooting.
