Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) on Tuesday slammed President Joe Biden for seeking praise for the “collapse of Afghanistan, which was caused by his actions.”
“When President Biden says ‘the buck stops with me,’ he is demanding credit for a self-perceived success,” Mast wrote in a press release on the same day Biden dubbed the Afghan evacuation an “extraordinary success.”
Biden “refuses to take responsibility for allowing himself and his Administration to be intimidated into retreat, negotiation, and ultimately, surrender to terrorists in Afghanistan,” he outlined.
His view was reinforced when White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked Tuesday if Biden had learned anything from the deadly evacuation that killed 13 U.S. service members, Psaki deflected and did not name one area Biden could have improved.
Instead of taking responsibility, Mast noted, Biden’s sought “praise for his impotent and paralyzed response to the collapse of Afghanistan, which was caused by his actions.”
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the end of the war in Afghanistan in the State Dining Room at the White House on August 31, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) speaks as House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and House Republican veterans of the military listen during a news conference at Rayburn Room of the U.S. Capitol August 31, 2021 in Washington, DC. House Minority Leader McCarthy held a news conference on a Republican effort to pass legislation they hope will hold the Biden administration accountable for what Republicans are calling a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty)
“President Biden doesn’t deserve to be commander-in-chief, but it’s not surprising that he, along with his senior Administration officials, are resisting calls to resign; that would mean admitting that they have made mistakes and taking responsibility for this disaster,” Mast continued.
Because the Biden administration has not taken responsibility “up to this point,” Mast added, “Congress must now hold them accountable.”
But House Democrats do not agree. In an attempt to exonerate Biden for the deadly evacuation, House Democrats blocked a vote on Tuesday to “require” Biden recover the abandoned military gear and the stranded Americans.
“Democrats just blocked a vote to require a plan from President Biden to bring Americans home and to account for all the military equipment he left behind,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) tweeted. “Republicans will not stop until every American is home safely.”
A transfer case with the remains of Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee, are carried off of a military aircraft as U.S. President Joe Biden attends the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, August, 29, 2021, one of the 13 members of the US military killed in Afghanistan last week. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Republicans are not giving up. Many have voiced their concern over those still stranded by Biden in Afghanistan. Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) said Tuesday she will “keep pressing” to hold this administration accountable for the disastrous abandonment of Americans. “There’s more work to do,” she added.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) echoed Kim’s thoughts, promising his team is still trying to rescue his trapped constituents from the country.
“The State Department should be ASHAMED! My team is STILL working around the clock to try and help constituents get out of Afghanistan because the State Department had no problem leaving them behind. They’re useless!” Jackson said.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø
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