President Biden delivered remarks this afternoon about the attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan where he accepted responsibility for what happened before blaming Trump during a surreal exchange with Peter Doocy.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki held her own briefing after Biden was finished, and one comment in particular stuck out:
“We have leverage” did Psaki really just say that?!
We have 12 dead marines.— lkp (@HCLphy) August 26, 2021
Yes, that’s exactly what Psaki said:
Psaki says U.S. has an “enormous amount of leverage” in Afghanistan
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) August 26, 2021
Psaki now claiming we have "an enormous amount of leverage over the Taliban" economically. "That is our view."
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) August 26, 2021
Really?
The White House is saying we have enormous “leverage” with the Taliban!
The safety of US troops and Americans behind enemy lines should never be dependent on “leverage!”
The United States of America does not negotiate with terrorists!
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) August 26, 2021
Holy hell you might want to “enlighten” the Taliban that “we” are in a position of “leverage” because it sure AF didn’t look that way today @PressSec
— Becky Rosenberry (@beckyrosenberry) August 26, 2021
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And that leverage is economic, according to Psaki, which leads to this:
Extremely dangerous strategy by the Biden Administration wanting to use “economic leverage” with the Taliban to get Americans out of Afghanistan moving forward. This is starting to sound more and more like they are planning for hostage negotiations and ransom payments.
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) August 26, 2021
Per Psaki, We have enormous amount of leverage. Are we paying off the Taliban?
— Mercedes Schlapp (@mercedesschlapp) August 26, 2021
Stay tuned.
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