Usually, the Republican National Committee raises eyebrows with the contents of its press statements. This morning, however, there’s chatter about an RNC press release that’s no longer online.
The Republican National Committee has removed a page from the 2020 campaign that says “Biden has had a history of pushing for endless wars” while “Trump has continued to take the lead in peace talks as he signed a historic peace agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan, which would end America’s longest war,” The Washington Post’s David Weigel noted Sunday.
It’s important to emphasize at the outset that much of the RNC’s online archive has been removed, not just this single document. I went searching this morning for RNC press statements from 2020 regarding the COVID pandemic, the campaign, and Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation process. The links to all of the online statements from last year led to the same “404 error” page.
In other words, it appears the RNC scrubbed its online archive of effectively all pre-2021 statements, not just the press release about Trump and Afghanistan.
That said, the statement in question — which is still viewable thanks to The Wayback Machine — is nevertheless a striking glimpse into a curious perspective. The RNC’s statement was released on Sept. 15, 2020, and it featured a headline that read, “President Trump Is Bringing Peace To The Middle East.”
The press release added, “President Trump has continued to take the lead in peace talks as he signed a historic peace agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan, which would end America’s longest war.” The RNC went on to reference Fox News commentary that described Trump’s withdrawal plan as a “decisive move” towards peace, and “the best path” for the United States. Of course, Trump’s record is now being seen in a different light. My point is not that the RNC deleted this specific statement out of embarrassment, since the party appears to have taken down several months’ worth of online content from 2020. But as the Taliban reclaims control over Afghanistan, and Republicans go on the offensive to blame President Biden, it’d be interesting to hear whether the Republican National Committee stands by its position from 11 months ago.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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