CNN’s Jeff Zeleny Questions Biden’s ‘Bizarre’ Statements on Afghanistan: Is He ‘Insulated, Isolated?’

CNN’s Jeff Zeleny suggested on Sunday that President Joe Biden might be “insulated” from the reality on the ground in Afghanistan, citing his “bizarre” public proclamations.

“There are going to be some tough questions, starting this week on Capitol Hill about what exactly was going on at the State Department, for example,” Zeleny said in a segment on Sunday’s Inside Politics. “Right now, things are caught in a huge bureaucracy. But you have to question, is the president insulated, isolated? On Friday, it was just almost bizarre. What he was saying just did not match the reality of what some of his other advisers were saying.”

Biden committed in a Friday press conference to ensuring the evacuation of Americans and the United States’ Afghan allies from Kabul, and said there was “no indication” Taliban fighters were stopping them from reaching the airport thanks to an “agreement.” He also suggested that al Qaeda had been driven out of Afghanistan, and that world leaders had expressed no indication they were troubled by the scene.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers an hour later that those attempting to reach the airport were being beaten, while Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters the same day, “We know that al Qaeda is a presence as well as ISIS in Afghanistan, and we’ve talked about that for quite some time.”

“He was asked about allies, essentially suggesting allies are not upset at the U.S. Or embittered by this,” Zeleny noted. “And it’s just not the case. So I really think this will be a very defining moment in the Biden presidency about what we learn of him as president. But it seems to me he’s a bit insulated, or isolated, inside the White House.”

Watch above via CNN.

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