CNN’s Zeleny on Biden’s ‘Bizarre’ Speech — Seems He’s ‘Insulated or Isolated Inside the White House’

Sunday on CNN’s “Inside Politics,” CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny suggested President Joe Biden’s recent speech about the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan was evidence the president is being “insulated or isolated inside the White House.”

Biden stated, “I have seen no question of our credibility from our allies around the world. I have spoken with our NATO allies. We have spoken with NATO allies — the Secretary of State, our National Security Advisor, has been in contact with his counterparts throughout the world and our allies. As has the general — excuse me, I keep calling him the general, but my Secretary of Defense. The fact of the matter is that I have not seen that. Matter of fact, the exact opposite, I’ve got the exact opposite. We’re acting with dispatch, and we’re committing to what we said we would do.”

Zeleny, who on Friday said Biden was “more in command” with his handling of the situation than he was earlier in the week, described the speech as “bizarre” because what the president had to say “did not match the reality” of what his advisers were saying.

“[Y]ou have to question — is the president insulated, isolated? On Friday, it was just almost bizarre,” Zeleny outlined. “What he was saying did not match the reality of what some of his other advisers were saying. What I was really struck by was … when he was asked about allies, essentially suggesting that allies are not upset at the U.S. or embittered by this. And it’s just not the case. I think this will be a very defining moment in the Biden presidency about what we learn of him as president, but it seems to me he’s a bit insulated or isolated inside the White House.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent