Media top headlines August 31
In media news today, critics resurface Biden ABC interview where he pledged to stay in Afghanistan until every American was rescued, Blinken gets knocked for avoiding questions after Afghan withdrawal speech, and Biden repeatedly implies he's not in charge of when, where he can take press questions
ABC News' chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz tore into President Biden's speech marking the completion of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Following the president's remarks to the nation on Tuesday, Raddatz began by commending the "very successful evacuation" of over 120,000 people, but stressed, "he was conflating the withdrawal with the evacuation."
"The evacuation occurred because the withdrawal was – they did not realize the Taliban would take over so quickly, they did not realize that the [Afghan government] would fall in 11 days and that's why you ended up with this chaos," Raddatz told ABC News anchor David Muir.
Raddatz then recalled various promises Biden made on July 8 that were ultimately not kept during the turbulent withdrawal.
"Just on July 8, the president was saying there was going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy of the United States from Afghanistan. They were clinging to airplanes in those early days," Raddatz said. "He was touting the Afghan forces, saying ‘I trust the capacity of the Afghan military.’ The president said they were ready, they were prepared for this, but no one was prepared for 11 days for the Taliban to take over."
"The president also promising on July 8 that we can guarantee the safety of the interpreters. There are thousands of interpreters in Afghanistan right now who are desperate and frightened," Raddatz continued.
The ABC News correspondent also pointed to Biden's interview with George Stephanopoulos when he vowed that all Americans would be out amid the troop withdrawal but only "90%" have been rescued.
"That 10% right now is still scared and does not know exactly how they're gonna get out," Raddatz added.
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Critics on social media panned Biden's "angry" speech that took a "victory lap" for the Afghan withdrawal while also blaming his predecessor, former President Trump for striking a deal with the Taliban.