Psaki Dodges Questions About Leaked Biden-Ghani Call; Conversation Reveals US President Urges to Conceal Taliban's Dominance
(Photo : Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Holds Daily Briefing
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 30: White House Press Secretary Jen Pskai swats at an insect flying near her head during the daily news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on August 30, 2021 in Washington, DC. Psaki fielded questions about Hurricane Ida, the ongoing pull out of U.S. military forces and their allies from Afghanistan and other topics. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said Wednesday that she was not going to go into President Joe Biden's July 23 phone call with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, in which he pleaded with the Afghan leader to change the perception of the battle with the Taliban.

Psaki remained silent when Republicans slammed Biden for telling Ghani to show the world they were fighting the Taliban, whether or not it was true. She said she wouldn't "get into the facts of a private conversation" if Biden was trying to create a "false narrative" in his discussion with Ghani.

She did point out, however, that the Afghan government's leadership had fallen apart long before Ghani departed the country. According to a recording of the call between the two leaders acquired by Reuters, Biden might have predicted the Taliban's ability to complete the country's takeover.

Joe Biden's staff are disappointed

But neither Biden nor Ghani seemed to realize how swiftly the nation would fall to the militants, who seized Kabul three weeks later on August 15, forcing the Afghan president to flee. Biden focused on what he viewed as Afghanistan's "perception" problem for the majority of the roughly 14-minute talk, as per NY Post.

Inside Joe Biden's administration, staffers are "horrified" by the Afghan pullout, believe the operation was a failure, and are outraged that American citizens were abandoned on the ground. Despite the pullout, which resulted in the deaths of 13 US military members on Thursday after an ISIS-K suicide bomber detonated their vest outside the Kabul airport, he made these assertions. Biden stated that he is to blame for the fatalities, as well as all that has happened after the US troops' withdrawal.

Per Daily Mail, the president stated the mission in Afghanistan couldn't have been finished in a more orderly manner in his overtly defiant statements. He explicitly stated that he disagrees with those who say he should have started the evacuation sooner.

American people are also turning against the president, according to polls, with his popularity rating dropping to an all-time low of 47% in the previous week. According to a Morning Consult/Politico survey released Wednesday, only three out of ten registered voters favor Biden's handling of the Afghan pullout, while a staggering 61 percent disapprove.

Read Also: Psaki Dodges Questions About Leaked Biden-Ghani Call; Conversation Reveals US President Urges to Conceal Taliban's Dominance

Republicans mock the president with leaked Biden-Ghani call

Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan accused Biden of the deaths of 13 American service members during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Both leaders appeared to underestimate the Taliban's ability to retake control of Afghanistan.

The Biden-Ghani leaked call centered on how Ghani might change public perceptions of Afghanistan's military. Both leaders appeared to underestimate the Taliban's ability to retake control of Afghanistan, as per The Sun.

Ghani's most recent public remark was on August 18, when he stated he departed Afghanistan to avoid bloodshed. Meanwhile, Republicans are reportedly pleading with Donald Trump to assist them in impeaching Biden, as calls for his impeachment grow in response to the Afghan situation.

Republicans attacked the president for his call with ex-Afghanistan President Ghani, claiming he knew the local army was failing and that his support numbers were falling further. There are still American people attempting to flee Kabul, hundreds of Afghan allies have been left behind, and the Taliban have been publicly parading the weaponry left behind by the United States.

Despite considerable criticism of Biden's handling of the situation over the previous month, the president called the entire military pullout from Afghanistan an "extraordinary success" on Tuesday night.

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