New Yorker’s David Rohde: ‘State Department and the White House’ are Blocking Americans from Leaving Afghanistan

New Yorker Executive Editor David Rohde said Monday he faulted the Biden administration for preventing Americans trapped in Afghanistan from taking flights out of the airport in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

Right now, our 19 American citizens and their families, and 40 SIV holders and their families — those are the translators who worked with the United States military — that are waiting to fly out of Mazar-i-Sharif on those charter planes, that is being held up by the State Department and the White House,” Rohde said in an afternoon interview with MSNBC’s Geoff Bennett. “I want to repeat that. It is the State Department and the White House.”

Flights carrying more than 1,500 Afghans and more than 100 American citizens have been grounded in Mazar-i-Sharif, including six flights funded by BlazeTV host Glenn Beck. Sources familiar with the effort have attributed the problem to the State Department, which has failed to provide clearance for the flights to land in neighboring countries.

Rick Clay, one of the individuals organizing evacuation efforts, told Fox News on Sunday the department was “not allowing any private charters carrying refugees [to] land anywhere” and was making “excuses” to justify the hold-up.

Rohde, who was held captive by the Taliban for seven months between 2008 and 2009, said he heard of voters in Connecticut complaining to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) about the Biden administration “fumbling and failing” on the issue. “These are our allies and this is a growing political problem for President Biden that won’t go away,” Rohde said. “He and Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken must address it.”

Watch above via MSNBC.