Journalists dispute Biden’s Taliban claim: ‘Reality and the rhetoric are…

Source: The Hill | August 20, 2021 | Lexi Lonas

Journalists dispute Biden’s Taliban claim: ‘Reality and the rhetoric are miles apart’

Journalists are disputing President Biden’s Friday claim that Americans have been able to make it through the Taliban to get to Kabul international airport to evacuate the country.

“We have no indication that they haven’t been able to get in Kabul through the airport. We’ve made an agreement with the Taliban thus far,” Biden said during a press conference at the White House. “They’ve allowed them to go through. It’s in their interest for them to go through, so we know of no circumstance where American citizens carrying American passports are trying to get through to the airport. But we will do whatever needs to be done to see to it they get to the airport.”

Journalists on the ground and monitoring the situation fired back, saying Afghan allies and U.S. citizens have faced violence trying to get to the airport.

“The president said he has no intelligence that the Americans have not been able to get [to the Kabul airport]. The question, obviously — does that square with reporting on ground?” David Muir, the anchor of ABC’s “World News Tonight,” asked a colleague.

“I mean — just totally not,” replied Ian Pannell, ABC’s senior foreign correspondent, highlighting Americans who had their passports at the airport and were still not allowed to get through.

“They were beaten by the Taliban,” Pannell said. “The reality and the rhetoric are miles apart, and not quite sure what advice the president is receiving. The truth on the ground is these people who fear for their lives can’t get through.”

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