During the press briefing on Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki got irritated. This happened when she was asked whether Biden is aware of the fact that most criticism about the U.S. withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan is about the Americans “stranded” in Kabul.
Psaki got annoyed, stating it is irresponsible to assume Americans are being stranded
Peter Doocy of Fox News asked Psaki whether Biden knows that most criticism about the crisis in Afghanistan is not about the withdrawal of troops; it is the way the president ordered the withdrawal to happen before Americans could get out of the country. Now they are stranded. Doocy then asked whether Biden has a sense that this is where the criticism comes from.
Psaki got visibly irritated and answered stating that it is “irresponsible” to assume that Americans are left stranded in Afghanistan. She then denied that Americans are stranded, adding that the Biden administration is committed to bringing Americans back to the United States.
PSAKI: "I think it's irresponsible to say Americans are stranded. They are not."
DOOCY: "'There are no Americans stranded' is the White House's official position on what's happening in Afghanistan right now?" pic.twitter.com/0FEq5VkO6V
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 23, 2021
Doocy asked a follow-up question, asking whether the official position of the White House is that no Americans are stranded in Afghanistan. To this, Psaki responded that she is calling out Doocy for stating that the Biden administration is stranding Americans in the war-torn country.
The White House press secretary then claimed that they have been clear in saying that they are not going to leave Americans behind. Psaki then claimed that the administration is going to bring these Americans back home and it is important for the public to understand and hear that.
Peter Doocy: Americans beat up and Afghans tossing their babies over the fence, is that what “America is back” means
Biden said “America is back.” Yet our closest allies who fought & bled with us on the battlefield feel more burned & betrayed than ever before.
I’ll always be America First, but that doesn’t mean we disregard and diminish our friends and allies.pic.twitter.com/nlP9uA216R
— Congresswoman Tenney (@RepTenney) August 19, 2021
Doocy later asked the White House press secretary whether Americans getting beat up by Taliban (and Afghans tossing their babies over barbed-wire fences) is what the president meant when he declared months ago that “America is back.”
Psaki responded, claiming that what Biden meant by his statement was that the United States is going to continue being the leader in the world. This includes being the leaders of evacuation not just in Afghanistan, not just of Americans, but as well as other U.S. allies.
Last Saturday, the press tried to reach out to Psaki about an American woman trapped from reaching the international airport in Kabul. However, the White House and the press secretary never issued a response.
The American woman, whose identity is hidden due to safety concerns, stated that she had already given up hope of reaching the airport. She added that right now, it is impossible to get through to the airport with all the people rushing through.
The woman also claimed that there are as many as 20 Taliban checkpoints from where she is up to the airport. She added that she is only one out of all the other Americans trapped behind.
