Trump spokesperson claims Obama brought US into Afghanistan

by Nikita Vladimirov - 08/13/16 12:06 PM ET

A Donald Trump campaign spokeswoman on Saturday claimed President Obama brought U.S. forces into Afghanistan — something that happened eight years before his presidency began.

“Remember, we weren’t even in Afghanistan by this time,” Katrina Pierson told CNN, referring to the withdrawal of troops from Iraq in 2011. “Barack Obama went into Afghanistan, creating another problem.”

{mosads}“That was Obama’s war,” she added when pressed by CNN’s Victor Blackwell.

The Afghanistan war actually began in 2001 under President George W. Bush, shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that year.

Obama did call for a surge of troops in Afghanistan in 2009, years after the war began. He campaigned for the White House in 2008 on shifting focus from Iraq to Afghanistan.

Pierson attempted to push back on CNN after a commercial break.

“We’re talking about ISIS specifically,” she said, implying that Obama’s new policy created the terror group and partially echoing the words of Donald Trump.

“I thought we were talking about the founding of ISIS. ISIS came out of the Obama side of the war. Is that not a fact?” Pierson said.

“No, it is not a fact,” Blackwell replied.

Watch the entire exchange in the video above.

Tags Barack Obama Donald Trump