Omar: Biden ‘Not Allowing the Pressure’ from Media, Washington to ‘Derail’ Afghanistan Mission

On Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Velshi,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said she’s surprised that President Joe Biden is “not allowing the pressure that’s being mounted in the media and in Washington to derail the mission that he has set forth” in Afghanistan and “The level of evacuation that his administration has been able to undertake is really inspiring.”

Host Mehdi Hasan asked, “Congresswoman, as a progressive, you supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries, partly because he promised to end the endless wars, to take on the defense establishment. So, are you surprised to see Joe Biden now standing up to the defense establishment, to the generals, to the hawks, including in the media, and sticking to this withdrawal timetable, ending America’s longest war? Has he surprised you?”

Omar responded, “He certainly has. And it’s actually even more surprising the fact that he’s not allowing the pressure that’s being mounted in the media and in Washington to derail the mission that he has set forth. The level of evacuation that his administration has been able to undertake is really inspiring. And there’s important work that’s getting done. Even after the terrorist attack at Kabul airport, we continue to airlift and evacuate people. Yesterday, we evacuated 12,500 people. That is commendable work that our servicemen are doing, the State Department. And we will continue to provide them the support that they need and push them to do as much as they can in the coming days. Because time is running out.”

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