The White House is circling the wagons around President Joe Biden and his top military advisers after two testified they advised the president against withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, both told the House and Senate armed services committees on Tuesday and Wednesday that they initially recommended Biden keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan to prevent the collapse of the Afghan government. Milley and McKenzie later added that following the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Kabul, they and the rest of the president’s military advisers reached a consensus that keeping troops in the country at that point would likely lead to an escalation of violence.
WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS BIDEN TURNED DOWN GENERALS’ ADVICE ON TROOP WITHDRAWAL
A number of White House officials expressed frustration to the Washington Examiner Wednesday regarding news coverage of Milley’s and McKenzie’s testimonies, disputing reports that the statements proved Biden lied during an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
“It’s twisting his words,” one official vented. “If you actually watch the video instead of just reading the transcript, the spirit of the president’s point is clear.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki voiced similar concerns over press coverage at her Tuesday briefing, insinuating that reporters cherry-picked lines from Biden’s interview and pulled them out of context.
“Well, let me give you a full — a couple of specifics from the actual [ABC] transcript because I know it’s been shorthanded a bit, no mal-intent,” she told reporters at the top of the briefing. “But the question asked by George Stephanopoulos was, ‘But your top military advisers warned against withdrawing on this timeline. They wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops.’ The president said, ‘No, they didn’t. It was split. That wasn’t true. That wasn’t true.’ ‘It was split’ — I think that’s a pretty key part of that phrasing there.”
“So, what should everybody take from that?” Psaki continued, referencing Milley’s and McKenzie’s testimonies. “There was a range of viewpoints, as was evidenced by their testimony today, that were presented to the president, that were presented to his national security team as would be expected, as he asked for. He asked for a clear, a clear-eyed … asked them not to sugarcoat it — what their recommendations were.”
Mike Gwin, the White House’s rapid response director, also defended the president against lying claims by repeatedly citing testimony from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who appeared beside Milley and McKenzie at the hearings.
“Worth reiterating given the intentionally obtuse takes today,” he tweeted. “[Austin] said leaving 2,500 troops would not have stabilized the situation in Afghanistan, given the Taliban offensive, and reinforcements (more troops) would have been needed. Which is exactly what @POTUS told @ABC.”
Worth reiterating given the intentionally obtuse takes today: @SecDef said leaving 2,500 troops would not have stabilized the situation in Afghanistan, given the Taliban offensive, and reinforcements (more troops) would have been needed.
Which is exactly what @POTUS told @ABC. https://t.co/XRTPVUrWpY
— Mike Gwin (@MGwin46) September 28, 2021
It’s worth noting that none of the White House officials who spoke with the Washington Examiner privately blamed Milley or McKenzie for what they classified as an “unfair” media narrative.
One pointed back to comments Psaki made during Tuesday’s briefing about how their counsel with Biden illustrates a core democratic hallmark.
“The generals delivered what they thought was an important piece of advice to the president,” that official explained. “The president heard their counsel but still thought that ending the war in Afghanistan was the nation’s No. 1 priority. After he made his decision, those men carried out his orders to the T. That’s democracy.”
Furthermore, Psaki informed reporters that Biden also bears no hard feelings toward his top military advisers.
“I would say he absolutely has confidence in Chairman Milley,” she said during the briefing. “He has worked side by side with him across the last nine months through some difficult times, difficult decisions in his presidency.
“He has a different relationship with Chairman Milley than I expect President Trump did,” the top White House spokeswoman continued. “I can’t speak to that relationship, but he does have trust in him.”
However, John Ullyot, a spokesman for former President Donald Trump’s National Security Council, took major issue with the Pentagon leaders’ testimonies.
He told the Washington Examiner in a Wednesday interview that Milley’s statements in particular were “absolutely devastating both days.”
“They directly contradicted the president,” Ullyot said. “I’d say Gen. Milley gave a big reason why he should resign, which is that he talked about his previous administration and the counsel he gave to President Trump directly with three authors of books that were tell-all books about the administration.”
He additionally criticized the media’s double standard in “treating how they’re covering Trump and Biden when it comes to listening to the generals.”
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“The big difference is that President Trump was going to have a very measured and businesslike approach to our withdrawal from the country instead of the absolute chaos that Biden’s decisions generated,” Ullyot concluded. “It’s a complete double standard that the media was criticizing President Trump for not listening to his generals when he had an absolute conditions-based plan, and Biden, in ignoring his generals, revealed he had no plan. There’s nothing from the media about the disastrous results of Biden’s policies.”
