'A bald-faced lie': Biden is slammed for claiming Kabul 'chaos' was inevitable after months of saying it was NOT. Irritable President snaps in car-crash interview over questions on Afghans falling from planes
President Biden has been slammed for the 'bald-faced lie' that chaos in Kabul during the final stages of the US withdrawal was inevitable after saying for months it was not.
The President's performance was blasted from all arenas with Republicans and Democrats branding Biden 'shameful' and calling for him to 'take responsibility' for the the scenes of violence and disorder in recent days as thousands attempted to flee while the Taliban advanced.
Biden was criticized for having 'no urgency' in tackling the crisis, while others said the President was 'impotent' and 'dishonest' after his interview with ABC News on Wednesday.
In the interview with George Stephanopoulos Biden expressed disbelief there was 'a way to have gotten out with chaos' and said he did not think the withdrawal could have been handled without mistakes.
'The idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens', he said.
He appeared pleasantly surprised the Taliban were letting the US evacuate Americans from Afghanistan without issue, but said his administration was having 'more difficulty' evacuating Afghanis who helped the US military and now have Taliban targets on their backs.
Biden snapped back at Stephanopoulos when he was questioned about footage of two Afghans falling to their deaths after clinging to the wheels of a US evacuation flight from Kabul on Monday, brushing off the harrowing images because they were 'four days ago, five days ago'.
The President also insisted he had been told by intelligence officials Kabul would likely withstand the Taliban until at least the end of 2021 - instead of the 10 days it took.
It was the president's first time taking any questioning from the press amid fresh scrutiny of his Afghanistan withdrawal strategy with the fall of Kabul and his remarks were met with strong criticism.
Nikki Haley, Donald Trump's ambassador to the UN, branded the president's comments 'shameful' and 'a slap in the face to the thousands of Americans still in Afghanistan'. She blasted Biden for having 'no urgency' and failing to 'take responsibility' for his chaotic foreign policy.
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who has long argued against withdrawing troops, termed Biden 'ignorant' while Arkansas GOP Rep. Tom Cotton blasted the President as 'dishonest' and 'impotent' and said the claim chaos was inevitable was 'a bald-faced lie'.
On Wednesday the US military evacuated approximately 1,800 individuals on ten C-17s. Since August 14, nearly 6,000 people have been taken out of Kabul. Biden told ABC News said he wants to rescue 15,000 Americans, and up to 65,000 Afghan refugees who helped the US military operation.
Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal fiasco worsened as:
- The US State Department told all 11,000 Americans still in Afghanistan to make their way towards Kabul's Hamid Karzai Airport to be flown home;
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin admitted that the US military could not escort anyone to the airport, amid fears Taliban fighters could kidnap and kill Americans seeking to flee the crumbling country;
- At a separate briefing, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Ruth Helam claimed she'd heard it was safe on the ground for Americans, and that the Taliban had made a 'solid commitment' to allow Americans safe passage;
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley also insisted there was 'nothing' US defense officials had seen that indicated Kabul would fall back into the hands of the Taliban in such a short space of time;
- Milley claimed intelligence staff had predicted the Afghan capital could last weeks, months or even years thanks to the US-trained Afghan army, which surrendered to Taliban fighters with minimal resistance;
- Seeking to blame the Afghans for their defeat, Milley said: 'This comes down to an issue of will and leadership. And no, I did not, nor did anyone else, see a collapse of an army of that size in 11 days.'
Biden, in the ABC interview, claimed the exit could not have been handled any better, and said he didn't know how to exit without chaos ensuing.
'So you don't think this could have been handled - this exit could have been handled better in any way, no mistakes?' Stephanopoulos questioned.
'No, I don't think it could have been handled in a way that, we're gonna go back in hindsight and look - but the idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens. I don't know how that happened,' Biden replied.
The president again laid blame on Afghan security forces for the astonishingly rapid fall of Kabul.
'When you had the government of Afghanistan, the leader of that government, get in a plane and taking off and going to another country; when you saw the significant collapse of the Afghan troops we had trained, up to 300,000 of them, just leaving their equipment and taking off - that was, you know, I'm not, that's what happened. That's simply what happened', he said.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled his country on Sunday - reportedly with $169 million in cash - as the Taliban encroached on Kabul. Ghani, who confirmed he was in the United Arab Emirates, said he was in 'consultation' to return to Afghanistan and had only fled to avoid more bloodshed.
But Iowa congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks criticized the White House's lack of planning as 'unacceptable'.
'This statement downplaying his administrations lack of planning, speaks volumes to their lack of commitment to the safety of our American troops and Afghan allies', she said.
Biden was also blasted by National Review Institute fellow John McCormack, who said it was not clear 'what the plan is' to get American citizens stuck in Afghanistan home.
'Biden waited more than 72 hours since Kabul fell to commit to bringing home every American citizen stuck in Afghanistan. In the interim, top admin officials hedged. Still not clear what the plan is to accomplish this goal', he said.
While Trump's former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway shared a Fox News article titled: 'Biden panned for 'shameful' comments on Afghan withdrawal during ABC interview: 'It's really bad'.'
And Donald Trump Jr criticized Biden's press conference on Wednesday, during which he spoke about Covid, and refused to take questions.
'10,000 Americans or more are stranded in Afghanistan, trapped by a terrorist organization, and our president is too much of a coward to take a single question from the media. #CowardInChief,' he said.
Meanwhile Washington Examiner journalist Jerry Dunleavy blasted Biden for brushing off harrowing footage of two Afghans falling to their deaths after clinging to the wheels of a US evacuation flight.
'This has the same sort of negative vibe as "what difference, at this point, does it make?"', he wrote alongside Biden's quotes.
Defense Editor of The Economist Shashank Joshi slammed Biden as 'tone-deaf, callous, pathetic' while Conservative columnist Meghan McCain and Managing Editor of Conservative news site the Daily Wire Emily Zanotti both scathingly pointed out the footage came from Monday morning - only two days before the car-crash interview.
CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale tweeted the footage was filmed only 72 hours before the interview. He said: 'Asked by ABC about images of a plane packed with Afghans and of people falling from a plane, Biden interjected, wrongly, "That was 4 days ago, 5 days ago." They were taken less than 72 hours ago.
'(Pressed, he said he'd thought "we have to gain control of this," move faster.)'
Josh Jordan described Bidan's gaffe and his claim the withdrawal could not have been handled better as being 'as bad as it gets'. And founder of conservative magazine and podcast The Federalist Sean Davis tweeted simply 'two days ago. It was
At another point in the interview, Biden snapped when asked about horrific images of Afghans falling from planes.
'That was four days ago, five days ago,' he said even though the images of people falling to their deaths emerged on Monday.
'What did you think when you first saw those pictures?' Stephanopoulos asked.
'What I thought was, we have to gain control of this. We have to move this more quickly. We have to move in a way in which we can take control of that airport. And we did,' Biden said.
Ric Grenell, who served as Trump's ambassador to Germany, said: Why did @GStephanopoulos let him lie about this? @Abc has some explaining to do. This was an exclusive and that means they have a responsibility.'
The Massachusetts Republican Party account tweeted: 'If #Biden actually had a plan, Afghans wouldn't have been falling out of the sky over #Kabul. Disgraceful!'
On social media, images of chaos at Kabul airport were widely shared. Pro-life activist Lila Rose tweeted: 'Unreal. Shame on the @JoeBiden administration for this mess'.
Sharing the clip of desperate Afghans running alongside a US Air Force plane, trying to climb aboard, David Patrikarakos tweeted: 'This footage will still be played in 100 years. It now joins images of the retreat from Saigon and the naked Vietnamese girl as one of the west’s most shameful moments in modern history.'
Two people are seen falling from a U.S. Air Force plane on Monday, having tried to jump on board as it was taxiing away from Kabul airport
And in a second excerpt shared ahead of the chat, Biden also insisted he'd been told by his intelligence officials that Kabul would likely withstand the Taliban until the end of 2021 - instead of the mere days it took.
'There was no consensus if you go back and look at intelligence reports,' the president said when asked if there had been intelligence failings. 'They said that it's more likely to be some time by the end of the year.'
Defending his decision to withdraw, Biden added: 'Look, it was a simple choice, George...
'When you had the government of Afghanistan, the leader of that government, get in a plane and taking off and going to another country; when you saw the significant collapse of the Afghan troops we had trained, up to 300,000 of them, just leaving their equipment and taking off - that was, you know, I'm not, that's what happened. That's simply what happened.'
The president also sought to scotch rumors that the US is planning to withdraw all troops aiding its rescue mission in just days, amid reports the UK is concerned about a sudden departure after being kept in the dark by its closest ally.
Biden said: 'If there's American citizens left, we're going to stay to get them all out
''So Americans should understand that troops might have to be there beyond Aug. 31?' Stephanopoulos then asked.
'No,' Biden answered. 'Americans should understand that we're going to try to get it done before Aug. 31.' But he then said, 'If we don't, we'll determine at the time who's left.'
Even normally favorable media pundits attacked Biden's remarks.
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer tweeted: 'President @JoeBiden now says he doesn't know how the U.S. could have withdrawn from Afghanistan "without chaos ensuing."
'But on July 8th, he said "the likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely."'
Glenn Kessler, editor of the Washington Post's fact checking site, tweeted: 'Biden, today: "The idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens." Reporter to Biden, July 8: "Your own intelligence community has assessed that the Afghan government will likely collapse." Biden: "That is not true."'
And Piers Morgan, Editor at Large of DailyMail.com, said: 'Biden's failure to even admit to his catastrophic mistake, when the whole world has watched the disaster unfurl on live TV, is both breathtakingly arrogant & disturbingly delusional. He either doesn't care or is in denial.'
Biden has avoided taking questions on the Afghanistan crisis for more than a week. The White House has been on the defensive for weeks as Taliban fighters raced across the country.
And officials have struggled to explain how they failed to forecast the rapid fall of Kabul and to account for chaotic scenes at the city's airport as the embassy was evacuated.
Scenes of civilians swamping planes on the runway at the Kabul airport, desperate for escape, have triggered bipartisan criticism that the Biden administration should have been better prepared.
'What did you think when you first saw those pictures?' Stephanopoulos asked.
'What I thought was, we have to gain control of this,' said Biden. 'We have to move this more quickly. We have to move in a way in which we can take control of that airport. And we did.'
By late Tuesday, US officials said they had rescued 3,200 people from Afghanistan, including all embassy personnel, except for a core group of diplomats who remained at Kabul airport.
But commanders admit they are unable to leave Hamid Karzai International Airport to help other Americans - and their Afghan allies - to safety.
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