CNN’s Jim Acosta excoriated former President Donald Trump and other Republicans for being overly hasty to politicize the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, slamming them for their “exploitation” of the attack.

Acosta began the CNN Newsroom segment Saturday by praising the work of the “brave men and women” of our military who have been “heroically evacuating their fellow Americans and Afghan allies by the tens of thousands.”

America was hopeful that our troops would be able to complete this mission and return home without any more causalities, Acosta continued, but “then Thursday happened…an act of pure cowardice and evil” that killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghans.

ISIS-K had “exploited what was an obvious soft target,” said Acosta, as the Marines were “clearly vulnerable” as they had to screen evacuees by hand, one by one.

“Just for a moment, imagine the courage it takes to do that job,” he continued, expressing regret for the loss of these members of our military who “gave their lives evacuating women and children” while “on a mission to end America’s engagement in Afghanistan with some measure of compassion and dignity.”

“If there were ever a moment for some sense of national unity,” said Acosta, “this was it. And yet in the hours that followed, the divisions in this country were all too apparent.”

He played a clip of Trump’s recent appearance on Fox News in which he “immediately pounced” on the attacks, bragging about his administration killing “bigger” terrorists than Osama bin Laden.

Acosta also mentioned tweets from Donald Trump Jr. (accusing President Joe Biden of “weakness” as he hung his head mourning those killed in Kabul), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) (calling for Biden and other top administration official to resign), and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) (similarly calling for Biden to resign).

“President Biden should expect some of this criticism,” said Acosta. “That is politics. But it’s the knee-jerk immediacy of this political attacks that stands out. This wasn’t Monday morning quarterbacking. That would have meant waiting until the next morning. No, this is Monday morning exploitation, and it’s shameful.”

There were “important questions,” Acosta acknowledged, about how the withdrawal was being managed, whether Biden should have honored the deal brokered by the Trump administration, and other issues related to the planning and execution of the military withdrawal and civilian evacuations.

Acosta concluded by advocating for an appropriate moment for thoughts and prayers:

There used to be a time and place for politics after so much bloodshed. So many times we hear politicians simply offer thoughts and prayers. Well, if there ever was a moment for just thoughts and prayers, this was it. The tweets, the statements — this time should’ve been about putting the troops first with thoughts and prayers.

Thoughts and prayers for the Marines and our other service members who died Thursday. Thoughts and prayers for their families. Thoughts and prayers for the troops leaving Afghanistan as we speak. Thoughts and prayers for the Afghan people and for this country.

Just imagine, just this once if we simply offered our thoughts and prayers. Give it some thought. Pray on it.

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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