GOP Leader Criticizes Biden’s Afghanistan Remarks as “Disconnected from Reality”

Daily Wire NewsJuly 9, 2023

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Slams President Biden’s Remarks on Afghanistan

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) strongly criticized President Joe Biden for his recent remarks regarding the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. Despite his own administration’s admission of multiple mistakes, Biden claimed he was right about the withdrawal.

During an interview on CNN, McCaul was asked to respond to Biden’s previous statements. The reporter questioned whether there were any mistakes made during the withdrawal and beforehand.

“No, no, all the evidence is coming back there, remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said al Qaeda would not be there. I said it wouldn’t be there,” Biden said. “I said we would get help from the Taliban. What’s happening now? What’s going on? Read your press. I was right.”

McCaul, in reaction to Biden’s remarks, described them as “devoid of reality.”

“Jake, it’s a little bit eerie that a president of the United States would be so disillusioned about what’s happening on the ground in Afghanistan, the idea that al Qaeda is gone,” McCaul said. “His own secretary of defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff, Milley, have said al Qaeda is on the rise in Afghanistan. He’s saying they’re gone. He’s saying the Taliban are helping us.”

McCaul continued to highlight the contradictions in Biden’s statements, emphasizing the presence of al Qaeda in Afghanistan after the withdrawal.

“What happened right after he withdrew? Zawahiri was harbored by the Haqqani Network, which is al Qaeda, essentially,” he continued. “So, you got Haqqani and the Taliban harboring Zawahiri, al Qaeda, bin Laden’s number two guy, in Afghanistan right after the fall. And now he’s saying, I was right. The Taliban is helping us and al Qaeda is gone.”

McCaul concluded by expressing his disbelief at a president being so disconnected from his own foreign policy.