Republican members of Congress criticized President Biden on Sunday for spending time at the Camp David presidential retreat instead of the White House as the Taliban fought to finalize a takeover of Afghanistan.
“Why is Joe Biden on vacation?” asked Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on “Sunday Morning Futures.” “I don’t think he’s taken one question from the press this entire weekend, so this is a frightening situation.”
Fox News confirmed on Sunday morning that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country as Taliban fighters entered Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.
“Why is Joe Biden hiding?” asked Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
BIDEN VACATES DC AS AFGHANISTAN, IMMIGRATION CRISES ACCELERATE
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., accused Biden of “dereliction of duty.” Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., also echoed the criticism.
Camp David has historically been used both for work and relaxation by U.S. presidents, and is fully equipped with secure video-conferencing technology. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that Biden “likes Camp David.”
“It’s a place to be outside, spend time with family and certainly has beautiful, beautiful scenery there,” Psaki continued.
Two House Democrats also took to Twitter to blast the Biden administration for how they handled the Afghanistan withdrawal.
Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota said, “As a Gold Star son of the Vietnam War listening to the White House briefing on the Afghanistan War withdrawal, my heart particularly aches for the thousands of Gold Star families of an eerily similar and painful episode forty-six years later,” referring to Saigon.
“There’s no way to hide it. The situation in Afghanistan is another shame on this admin. Withdrawal was never going to be easy but it didn’t need to come to this,” Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas tweeted. “The US must do everything in its power to help our partners & allies to safety & protect our national security.”
The White House tweeted out a picture Saturday of Biden sitting down at Camp David and taking notes during a video conference with his national security team.
President Biden speaks with Vice President Kamala Harris and members of his national security team from Camp David in Maryland, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021. (Photo: White House)
(White House)
And on Sunday, a White House official told Fox News that Biden has “spoken to members of his National Security team on the situation in Afghanistan and will continue to receive updates and be briefed throughout the day.”
Jordan said he doesn’t believe the United States has seen something this “crazy” in foreign policy since the Vietnam War, referring to the infamous finale at the Saigon embassy, where Americans were evacuated from a rooftop by helicopter in 1975.
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“Let’s hope we can protect American lives. But this would not happen. This would not happen if President Trump was in the White House. We know that we would not be treated the way we are from our adversaries,” Jordan said. “We would not have what took place up in Anchorage, Alaska, a few months ago where Secretary Blinken was treated the way he was by his Chinese counterpart. That just would not happen when you project strength and confidence from the White House. But unfortunately, we don’t have that today.”
The White House did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment on Sunday about the GOP criticism.
