Media top headlines August 23
In media news today, a CBS reporter instructs the White House staff to show Biden the poll about his job approval falling, Bill Maher and Andrew Sullivan pan newsrooms for caving to the 'woke mobs,' and a CNN panel blasts Biden's 'bizarre' messaging on Afghanistan
President Joe Biden took flak again Monday for taking no questions about Afghanistan as the crisis in the war-torn country continues.
The Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan In the aftermath of the withdrawal of U.S. troops, and Americans and Afghan allies stranded there are desperately trying to leave. Many questions remain unanswered, yet on Monday, after giving a brief update on the White House's effort against the coronavirus, Biden again walked away as the press shouted out inquiries about Afghanistan.
As a reporter asked him, "How many Americans are left in Afghanistan, Mr. President?" Biden walked away from the podium.
Biden's exit stage left comes after the Pentagon admitted it did not know how many American citizens were left in Afghanistan. Former Trump White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany blasted the administration for failing to provide Americans with information and for failing to follow through on its promise to hold daily White House press briefings throughout the crisis.
"One of the most obvious questions is how many Americans are on the ground. He didn't take up the time to pick up the phone and call Secretary of State Antony Blinken and get that number for us when you are the one place we are getting information from today, when there are nearly 15,000 American hostages on the ground?" McEnany said of Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
"The president's backside is rapidly becoming the defining image of this administration," Capital Research's Michael Watson tweeted. Others gave him the nickname "Walkaway Joe."
VETERANS BLAME BIDEN FOR TURMOIL IN AFGHANISTAN, SAY TROOPS WERE ‘BETRAYED POLITICALLY’
It was a similar scene last week. Biden addressed the nation on COVID-19, only to turn his back and ignore questions on the foreign policy debacle.
"Joe Biden again turns his back on Americans who want questions answered while he abandons Americans trapped by the Taliban. Shameful," Townhall.com editor Katie Pavlich tweeted.
"Oh my gosh he legitimately came out, talked for 15 minutes about a topic nobody is currently asking about, then leaves WITHOUT TAKING QUESTIONS. Unmitigated disaster," GOP strategist Matt Whitlock said in agreement.
When Biden has answered questions on the crisis, he's often been defiant, defensive and inconsistent. In his interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos last week, Biden claimed intelligence did not indicate the Afghan government would quickly collapse – despite reports noting the opposite. He also claimed his advisers did not tell him to delay the troop withdrawal, despite reports revealing they had.
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Biden went on to make several misleading claims during the press conference, including how international allies have not lost confidence in U.S. leadership following the disaster in Afghanistan.