Student Activists Criticize Biden Over Afghanistan Withdrawal, COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Biden administration is using the situation in Afghanistan and the COVID-19 pandemic to score political points rather than solve those crisis, the student activist organization Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) said in a statement.

“YAL believes that the Taliban is holding over 100 Americans hostage in order to gain recognition from the outside world,” the statement said on Wednesday. “YAL also accuses the President Biden of not only covering up the hostage crisis to boost his re-election chances, but actively using the COVID-19 vaccine mandate as a means to distract the American people from the devolving situation on the ground.”

The student group said it blames the Biden administration for completely mishandling the situation in Afghanistan, adding that the Taliban uses Americans as leverage in its talks with the State Department.

“While the American people deserve leadership and accountability, the White House instead has chosen to distract from its failures abroad by instituting sweeping, unconstitutional vaccine mandates at home,” YAL senior spokesperson Eric Barkey said.

YAL was founded in 2008 at the end of Congressman Ron Paul's first presidential campaign. The organization's chapters operate in many high schools and colleges across the United Sates with the goal of mobilizing youth activists to support liberty.

Earlier on Wednesday, Quinnipiac University released the results of a new poll revealing that every second American disapproves of how Biden is handling his job as president after the United States withdrew from Afghanistan.