Kinzinger Slams Afghanistan Exit: ‘We’re Disgracefully Begging the Taliban for Basically Permission to Save Americans’

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) sharply criticized the Biden administration for its handling of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and subsequent efforts to evacuate Americans and those Afghans who helped U.S. forces during the war.

“We abandoned the Afghan military,” Kinzinger told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday.

The congressman wondered why the U.S. had not acted to secure the capital and Bagram Air Base before withdrawing.

“Particularly in the last 11 days, as we saw the military a rapid basically capitulation and the Taliban advances, why were we not then surging in military forces to take back Bagram Air Base, to defend Kabul to make sure we have things in place. Because this wasn’t a 24-hour collapse. It was still a week and a half. And now we’re in a position where we’re disgracefully begging the Taliban for basically permission to save Americans.”

Tapper later asked Kinzinger about a report stating the Biden administration has been concerned about conservative backlash to the idea of scores of Afghans seeking to come to the U.S.

The congressman used the opportunity to criticize both the Trump and Biden administrations:

Obviously you see people like Stephen Miller out there and some of the crazy far right saying things like, “This is an alternative plan to populate the United States with Muslims.” No. This is the United States following through on its commitment it made. We failed the people of Afghanistan, but we can at least not fail these people we’ve made a promise to.

So, everybody in Congress and everybody in politics right now is pointing fingers at the other side trying to see if they can get a political win in this. Both sides own this. Republicans and Democrats failed you. The Republican and Democratic administrations failed you. Donald Trump negotiated a terrible deal and made it clear we wanted to leave. And Joe Biden executed an awful pullout.

Watch above via CNN.