Jeffries Suggests Attack On Guard Troops Is Trump’s Fault
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is now the latest Democrat attempting to pin blame on President Donald J. Trump after the horrific pre-Thanksgiving attack that left one National Guard soldier dead and another critically wounded—despite the attacker being a radicalized Afghan migrant who entered the U.S. under President Joe Biden’s watch.
Speaking with MS NOW — the rebranded, left-wing iteration of MSNBC — Jeffries told host Jen Psaki, Biden’s former press secretary, that President Trump must “justify” why National Guard troops have been deployed to assist local authorities with surging crime across the country. The president has repeatedly stated that the Guard is supporting overwhelmed state and local agencies, many of which have been struggling under Democrat-led criminal justice policies.
“I think the Trump administration is going to have to justify to the American people why these actions are being taken as part of the broader effort to deploy National Guard troops all across the country,” Jeffries claimed.
“These are reasonable questions that the American people deserve answers to, not simply in the context of the actions that Donald Trump and the Secretary of Defense have taken today, but generally, in terms of understanding what their overall public safety strategy may be in a country where so many Americans understandably have concluded that things are moving in the wrong direction over the last year or so, and that we’ve got to find a better path forward,” he added, referring to the Defense Department with a term that hasn’t been in use for decades.
Meanwhile, federal officials say the Afghan immigrant accused of ambushing two National Guard troops near the White House last week may have been radicalized after entering the United States — an entry made possible through Biden-era refugee policies.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told NBC News on Sunday that investigators believe 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal became radicalized after his resettlement.
“We believe he was radicalized since he’s been here in this country,” Noem said. “We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state, and we’re going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him, who were his family members.”
She added that authorities have received “some participation” from people who knew him.
Lakanwal entered the U.S. legally in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome — a mass-evacuation and resettlement program launched by the Biden administration after its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. While asylum was formally granted in April during President Trump’s first term, Noem emphasized that the vetting process occurred under Biden officials and was plagued with failures.
“When this abandonment of Afghanistan happened, the Biden administration put people on airplanes [and] brought them to the United States without vetting them,” Noem said. “They brought them into our country and then said they would vet them afterward.”
“All of that vetting information was collected by Joe Biden’s administration,” she continued. “Joe Biden completely did not vet any of these individuals.”
Noem also noted that President Trump has since implemented enhanced screening protocols, including social media reviews and deeper scrutiny of an immigrant’s associates, in order to protect national security.
Following the deadly attack in Washington, D.C., on Thanksgiving Eve, President Trump announced sweeping new restrictions on immigration — including a full halt on migrants entering the United States from “Third World Countries.”
“The President is absolutely determined to stop all processes at this point in time from third-world countries until we can have a thorough opportunity to go through these individuals,” Noem explained.
The attack claimed the life of 20-year-old Army National Guard soldier Sarah Beckstrom and left 24-year-old Air National Guard member Andrew Wolfe fighting for his life. Both served in the West Virginia National Guard.
Yet Democrats like Jeffries are now trying to redirect national outrage away from Biden-era vetting failures and toward President Trump — an attempt that appears increasingly out of step with a public alarmed by rising crime, radicalization threats, and mismanaged immigration policies.