White House NatSec Advisor Tries to Clear Up Comments After Being Grilled at Briefing on Afghan Evacuations

 White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan took to Twitter Tuesday to clarify his earlier comments about getting all Americans out of Afghanistan.

During the Tuesday briefing, CBS News’ Weijia Jiang asked what the United States is going to do if there are still Americans and Afghan allies that need to be evacuated by August 31st — the date President Joe Biden set for the end of the U.S.’ military mission.

“Will U.S. troops stay until everyone is out or will they leave?” she asked.

Sullivan responded by saying, “I’m not going to comment on hypotheticals. What I’m going to do is stay focused on the task at hand, which is getting as many people out as rapidly as possible.”

“So you can’t commit to bringing back every American?” Jiang asked as Sullivan moved on.

Minutes later in the briefing, RealClearPolitics’ Philip Wegmann followed up on that to ask, “Will the U.S. government commit to ensuring that any Americans that are currently on the ground in Afghanistan get out?”

“That’s what we’re doing right now,” Sullivan responded. “We have asked them all to come to the airport, to get on flights, and take them home. That’s what we intend to do.”

Hours later Sullivan took to Twitter to try and clarify those comments.

He said, “When I was asked about whether we’re going to get all Americans out of Afghanistan I said ‘that’s what we intend to do’ and that’s exactly what we’ll do, and are accomplishing right now with HKIA re-opened and operational, thanks to the incredible work of our troops and diplomats.”