The White House on Monday argued that Americans were not stranded in Afghanistan, calling it “irresponsible” to say so.
“I think it’s irresponsible to say Americans are stranded,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “They are not. We are committed to bringing Americans who want to come home, home.”
Psaki bristled at Fox News reporter Peter Doocy’s use of the word “stranded” during the daily press briefing to describe the Americans still in Afghanistan.
“We are in touch with them via phone, via text, via email, via any way we can possibly reach Americans to get them home if they want to return home,” she said.
When asked by Doocy if the official position of the White House was that no Americans were stranded in Afghanistan, Psaki replied, “I’m just calling you out for saying we are stranding Americans in Afghanistan.”
The Afghanistan Embassy is currently advising Americans not to come to the airport in Kabul unless they have received specific instructions to do so.
Psaki argued that the Biden White House continued to work effectively on the crisis — even though they remained unsure how many Americans were in Afghanistan and did not have an exact number of Americans evacuated.
“The test of competence and of leadership is not about how you operate on your best day. It’s about how you operate when the chips are down, when things are difficult, when you need to adapt and make decisions,” she said.