Senator Marsha Blackburn believes Joe Biden “must resign” following testimony by military leaders which seems to indicate the President wasn’t forthcoming about the advice he received from military leaders regarding the Afghanistan troop withdrawal.
The Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan led to a suicide bombing that killed 13 service members, a retaliatory drone strike by the United States that killed 10 civilians – including an aid worker and 7 children – and countless Americans being left behind in the Taliban-controlled country.
Blackburn argued in a tweet following testimony at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan Tuesday that Biden lied.
“Biden lied when he told [George] Stephanopoulos no one advised him against his timeline-based withdrawal,” she wrote. “His recklessness resulted in the deaths of 13 US service members and abandonment of countless citizens & allies.”
“Biden can’t avoid the consequences of his actions,” she concluded. “He must resign.”
Biden lied when he told Stephanopoulos no one advised him against his timeline-based withdrawal. His recklessness resulted in the deaths of 13 US servicemembers and abandonment of countless citizens & allies. Biden can’t avoid the consequences of his actions. He must resign.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) September 28, 2021
Calls To Resign
Senator Marsha Blackburn believes Biden must resign because he ignored the advice of multiple military leaders in regards to the Afghanistan withdrawal.
Worse, she believes he lied about that advice.
In an August interview with ABC News, President Biden was asked if top advisers had suggested leaving 2,500 troops in place to maintain order in Afghanistan.
“No. No one said that to me that I can recall,” Biden replied.
Stephanopoulos: “Your military advisors did not tell you, no, we should just keep 2,500 troops; it’s been a stable situation for the last several years?”
Biden: “No, no one said that to me that I can recall.” pic.twitter.com/7ODzYA6xMF
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 19, 2021
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley wouldn’t share his personal conversations with the President but maintained his assessment was “back in the fall of 2020, and remained consistent throughout, that we should keep a steady state of 2,500.”
Head of U.S. Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie testified, “I recommended that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.”
While Milley and McKenzie said these were recommendations, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified that Biden specifically received the advice to leave some troop presence in Afghanistan.
“Their input was received by the president and considered by the president for sure,” Austin insisted.
.@SenTomCotton: “President Biden last month…said that no military leader advised him to leave a small troop presence in Afghanistan. Is that true?”
Austin: *crickets* “…Their input was received by the president and considered by the president for sure.” pic.twitter.com/zA7cms8r6H
— America Rising (@AmericaRising) September 28, 2021
Those who testified seem in lockstep with a report earlier this month by The Political Insider which revealed similar comments by General Austin Miller, the top United States general in charge of military forces in Afghanistan up until July of this year.
Miller says he opposed President Biden’s troop withdrawal plan and warned against intelligence suggesting the Afghan army could hold off the Taliban.
Miller, according to multiple sources at the hearing, “passed his recommendations through the chain of command,” recommendations which included a proposal “that the US should keep a level of troops on the ground … in order to maintain stability given the Taliban threat assessment.”
He went on to state that “once his recommendation was turned down” he had to execute his orders regardless.
Who turned down the recommendation?
Miller also said once his recommendation was turned down, it became his job to execute on the withdrawal order – and eventually, decisions like abandoning Bagram were made because of constraints and troop caps imposed by the President’s orders.
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) September 15, 2021
RELATED: General Mark Milley Defends Secret Calls To China In Grilling Before Congress
Reporters Run Cover
Mainstream media reporters were quick to suggest that President Biden’s comments were taken out of context.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed in a press conference that Biden had received “split” advice, not just unanimous advice that troops should remain.
She did not reveal who advised to pull all troops out.
Washington Post fact-checker Glen Kessler suggested Biden’s response to the question presented by Stephanopoulus was simply “imprecise.”
“It’s not clear exactly what he’s referencing,” Kessler suggests. “He could be answering the 2,500-troop question.”
Not everybody was buying Kessler’s argument, however.
What is imprecise about “No. No one said that to me that I can recall.”? The question is did anyone recommend leaving 2,500 troops to maintain stability? “No.”
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) September 28, 2021
Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, who spent years as the outlets token conservative, claimed a quote from the interview shows he was likely responding to a separate statement.
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“George’s complete question,” she wrote. “‘Your military advisers did not tell you, ‘No, we should just keep 2,500 troops. It’s been a stable situation for the last several years.’ It’s the last sentence that was false and generals likely never said to Biden.”
A transcript of the interview shows an exchange seconds before the quote Rubin shared:
STEPHANOPOULOS: But your top military advisors warned against withdrawing on this timeline. They wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops.
BIDEN: No, they didn’t. It was split. Tha– that wasn’t true. That wasn’t true.
What Rubin won’t tell you – either because she’s a liar or simply illiterate – is that she’s providing a quote AFTER Biden expressly denied receiving the advice from his advisers.
“They wanted your to keep 2,500 troops.”
“No, they didn’t.” pic.twitter.com/osqo0gemJV
— Rusty Weiss ?? (@rustyweiss74) September 29, 2021
Kessler advised everyone to watch the full clip and make their own judgment. I encourage people to do the same.
Senator Marsha Blackburn called for President Biden to resign earlier this month as well.
“This is a mess of their making. We have 13 U.S. service members who are dead,” she said. “They’re trying to do a victory lap, which is repulsive to me, and say, ‘this was an enormous success.’ When the vast majority of Americans know, it was not an enormous success.”
“Joe Biden can talk all he wants to talk, but his actions show this administration is up to no good,” Blackburn added. “They have been intentional in making a mess out of this situation in the Middle East.”
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