Hawley: Biden declaring Afghanistan success was 'most extraordinary' line from a president 'in my lifetime'
Biden previously touted the mission as an 'extraordinary success.'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is sounding off on the Biden administration's handling of Afghanistan, arguing that claiming success was the "most extraordinary statement" he's heard from a president in his lifetime.
Fox News had asked what the thought was the "biggest political turkey" or "most ridiculous" thing he's seen in politics this year.
"I have to say – it's not funny, it's tragic – but I have to say that having Joe Biden go out and say that the evacuation of Afghanistan was an extraordinary success – after 13 service members lost their lives, including one from my home state, after hundreds of civilians lost their lives, and hundreds, maybe thousands of Americans were left behind to the enemy. That, to me, is the most extraordinary statement that I've heard from an American president in my lifetime," Hawley told Fox News on Sunday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Joe Biden presents his national statement during day two of COP26 on Nov. 1, 2021, in Glasgow. (Photo by Andy Buchanan - Pool/Getty Images)
"I have never heard – I'm 41 years old this year – I have never heard an American president in my lifetime look at the camera and celebrate that kind of loss of life and that kind of devastation for the people of our country."
Sen. Josh Hawley arrives for a meeting with Republican senators at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 7, 2021, in Washington. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The Missouri senator added that "whatever else happens, he has been a failure as president – because to say that that's a success – that's so far out of touch with reality, I don't even know what to say to it. And this is somebody that's not up to the job as commander in chief."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hawley was just one of many Republicans to call for Biden's resignation or impeachment following the attack outside of Harmid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan.
A Taliban fighter sits in front of the Sakhi Shrine in the Karte Sakhi area of Kabul on Nov. 1, 2021. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
Days after the attack, Biden touted the end of the "the longest war in American history."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He added that the "[w]e completed one of the biggest airlifts in history, with more than 120,000 people evacuated to safety. That number is more than double what most experts thought were possible. No nation – no nation has ever done anything like it in all of history. Only the United States had the capacity and the will and the ability to do it, and we did it today."
"The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals."