At President Biden’s fact-challenged press conference earlier today he made it sound as if American citizens and others in Afghanistan aren’t having much trouble getting to Karzai International Airport in Kabul:
Joe Biden falsely says “no circumstance” where American citizens have been blocked from Kabul airport pic.twitter.com/6CYmU4inXE
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 20, 2021
First off, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sounded a different tune when he spoke with members of Congress:
NEW: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a briefing call with House lawmakers just now said Americans have been beaten by the Taliban in Kabul, according to multiple people on the call. Austin called it “unacceptable.”
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) August 20, 2021
This statement alone from Austin contradicts a lot of what Biden just said at the White House about Americans not having a hard time getting to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) August 20, 2021
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said something similar during his briefing with reporters:
Pentagon Press Sec John Kirby addressed this just now, per @laraseligman:
“We’ve communicated to the Taliban that that is absolutely unacceptable and we want free passage through these checkpoints for documented Americans. … By and large, that’s happening.”
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) August 20, 2021
Pentagon making it very clear that it’s still hard to get to the Kabul airport despite what Biden claimed earlier
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) August 20, 2021
Want another contradiction? During Biden’s address he said there was no Al Qaeda presence in Afghanistan. Later, at the Pentagon presser, Kirby said there was and then was reminded what Biden said earlier. Spin ensued:
.@JenGriffinFNC: "What is your current estimate for how many Al Qaeda are in Afghanistan?"@PentagonPresSec answers there's no exact estimate, but they know Al Qaeda, ISIS have a presence.
GRIFFIN: "But the president just said that there's no Al Qaeda presence in Afghanistan?" pic.twitter.com/VkjfFnOFmF
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 20, 2021
What an absolute crap show this has become.
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