On the occasion of the last U.S. troops leaving Afghanistan—and in a marked departure from its traditional pro-Biden bias—CNN blasted President Biden on Tuesday for abandoning American citizens trapped in the country.
New Day co-host John Berman opened today's show by speaking of Biden's "broken promise." Adding, "He said the US would stay to get them out. The U.S. did not stay."
Here's more of Berman:
President Biden will address the nation this afternoon to mark the end of America’s longest war... As many as 200 Americans remain in the country, and that represents a broken promise from President Biden. He said the U.S. would stay to get them out. The US did not stay. There are thousands of Afghan allies in the country still as well.
In a subsequent dialogue with substitute host Kaitlin Collins, a clip was played of Biden's recent interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News in which Biden said,
"If there's American citizens left, we're going to stay until we get them all out."
Observed Berman:
"That was pretty unambiguous: if there are American citizens still there who want to get out, the United States will not leave. The US is gone, and there are still American citizens who want to get out."
When the media focus on Afghanistan fades, we can expect CNN to resume its regularly-scheduled programming: ripping Ron DeSantis and other 2024 Republican contenders. In the meantime, the network's fair coverage of Biden's Afghanistan fiasco represents a refreshing change.
CNN blasting President Biden for breaking his promise and abandoning American citizens in Afghanistan was sponsored in part by Liberty Mutual, Kayak, and ADT.
Here's the transcript. Click "expand" to read more.
CNN
New Day
8/31/21
6:00 am EDT
JOHN BERMAN: President Biden will address the nation this afternoon to mark the end of America’s longest war... As many as 200 Americans remain in the country, and that represents a broken promise from President Biden. He said the U.S. would stay to get them out. The U.S. did not stay. There are thousands of Afghan allies in the country still as well.
KAITLIN COLLINS: I think what he is going to talk about today is, obviously, defending the big picture: the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and saying, this is what they they Americans wanted to see. And there is polling that does reflect that.
I think the questions that face them now ar how this, of course, was executed and how this went down, and the fact that there are still Americans left in Afghanistan who according to the State Department want to love.
And one thing that I was thinking about yesterday when we were listening to the Secretary of State speaking, listening to the head of Central Command speaking, is a promise that President Biden had made, in his own words, one that he decided to make back in just a few weeks ago when he did an interview with ABC News.
JOE BIDEN: We’re going to do everything in our power to get all Americans out, and our allies out. The commitment holds to get everyone out that, in fact, we can get out and everyone that should come out, and that’s the objective. That’s what we’re doing now, that’s the path we’re on. If there’s American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out.
COLLINS: So, I think people push back on that, saying the US government warned people time and time again since April to leave Afghanistan. There are still people who want to leave. And so I do think that’s something that the president wants to discuss today in his remarks.
BERMAN: Yeah, yeah, that was pretty unambiguous, what he just said to George there: if there are American citizens still there who want to get out, the United States will not leave. The U.S. is gone, and there are still American citizens who want to get out.
