CNN’s Keilar Makes Same Point as Donald Trump Jr. While Grilling Biden Spox John Kirby on al Qaeda Strike
While grilling Biden national security spokesman John Kirby on the strike that killed the leader of al Qaeda, CNN anchor Brianna Keilar adopted a point that Donald Trump Jr. made on Twitter.
Trump the Younger reacted to the airstrike that killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri by piling on a tweet from GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy that connected the strike to the withdrawal from Afghanistan, writing “The fact that the leader of Al Qaeda felt comfortable walking around the streets of Kabul should tell us a lot… and none of it good.”
100%. The fact that the leader of Al Qaeda felt comfortable walking around the streets of Kabul should tell us a lot… and none of it good. https://t.co/GOBrKFDxcQ
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 2, 2022
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham made a similar observation:
What unnerves me is that Al-Zawahiri felt comfortable enough being out in the open in the Kabul area after the Taliban takeover. So much for the Taliban rejecting al-Qaeda.
This is proof positive that Afghanistan has once again become a safe haven for international terrorists.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) August 1, 2022
On Tuesday morning’s edition of CNN’s New Day, Keilar hosted Kirby for an extensive interview that included an exchange that closely mirrored Trump Jr.’s and Graham’s point.
“What does it say about the future of U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan that one of the most wanted terrorists in the world is comfortable on a balcony in downtown Kabul?” Keilar asked.
Kirby generally echoed the answer he gave in an earlier Fox News interview:
Well, I’ll tell you a couple of things. One, it tells you that we can do exactly what we said we were going to do a year ago. Over the horizon counterterrorism capability is possible. In fact, it can be very effective. And we’ve seen that just over the course of this weekend. And if I’m an al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan right now, I bet you I’m thinking that it’s not quite the safe haven I once thought it was, and I’m sure that this is putting them on their back heels. And we’re going to have to watch and be vigilant as they try to adjust to what just happened on Saturday night.
Watch above via CNN.
