Obama’s Education Secretary Arne Duncan says Kabul suicide bombers are like anti-maskers

Obama-era Education Secretary Arne Duncan was eviscerated on social media over the weekend after he compared anti-mask and anti-vaccine Americans to terrorist suicide bombers in Afghanistan. 

‘Have you noticed how strikingly similar both the mindsets and actions are between the suicide bombers at Kabul’s airport, and the anti-mask and anti-vax people here?’ the former top education official wrote on Twitter. ‘They both blow themselves up, inflict harm on those around them, and are convinced they are fighting for freedom.’

Duncan’s tweet came Sunday morning, shortly before President Biden  stood watch at Dover Air Force base as the caskets of 13 US service members were returned home after they died in the Kabul explosion last Thursday helping Americans and Afghan allies escape Taliban rule. At least 170 were killed in last week’s attack, which has been claimed by terrorist group ISIS-K.

Arne Duncan, above, was eviscerated on social media over the weekend after he compared anti-mask and anti-vaccine Americans to terrorist suicide bombers in Afghanistan.

‘Have you noticed how strikingly similar both the mindsets and actions are between the suicide bombers at Kabul’s airport, and the anti-mask and anti-vax people here?’ the former top education official wrote on Twitter. ‘They both blow themselves up, inflict harm on those around them, and are convinced they are fighting for freedom’

Duncan’s tweet was bitterly ratio’ed, racking up over 4,000 quote tweets and 19,000 responses and only a little over 500 retweets and 1,600 likes, as of Monday morning. 

‘This might be the worst all time ratio,’ Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, wrote on Twitter, adding ‘Wow you’re a real piece of human garbage.’

‘On the day that President Biden met the caskets containing the fallen soldiers who were victims of suicide bombers, I can’t imagine a more inappropriate Tweet from former Education Secretary @arneduncan,’ wrote Joel Petlin, superintendent of Kiryas Joel school district. ‘There’s no comparison between non-masking, non-vaxxing & terrorism. Shame.’

‘Completely unacceptable and abhorrent words from the former Secretary of Education under the Obama/Biden administration. And to think this individual was in charge of educating our children? Disgusting,’ wrote former Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa. 

‘Unbelievable! Obama’s former Secretary of Education equated U. S. citizens that want a choice to get vaccinated to suicide bombers. It is scary how some Democrats in power think!’ wrote Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., in response. 

Duncan served as education secretary from 2009 to 2016, and now works as managing partner at the education group Emerson Collective.   

On Monday morning, as many as five rockets were fired at Kabul airport, with some being intercepted by the C-RAM missile defense system. An official said initial reports did not indicate any U.S. casualties, but that information could change. It wasn’t immediately clear who launched them.

The incident came as it was revealed three children were killed in a US drone strike targeting ‘multiple suicide bombers’ planning an attack on the Hamid Karzai International airport – just hours after Biden warned of the possibility of another attack following last week’s that killed 170, including 13 U.S. personnel.

Witnesses said the a strike blew up two cars parked outside a residential building near the airport to the north of Afghanistan’s capital. It is believed the vehicles were going to be used in an ‘imminent’ attack by ISIS-K militants.

Smoke could be seen rising near the airport today, and the sound of the airport’s missile defense system could be heard by local residents, some of whom also reported seeing rockets exploding in the air and shrapnel falling into the street – suggesting at least one rocket had been intercepted.