There appears to be a media blackout in the bombshell report of a leaked July phone call between President Biden and then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Ghani had warned Biden in July ‘we are facing a full-scale invasion’ by the Taliban and other terrorists.
Transcript excerpts on Tuesday of a July 23 exchange where Biden appeared to urge Ghani to push the “perception” of stability in Afghanistan amid the U.S. military withdrawal regardless of the reality on the ground.
“I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban,” Biden said. “And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.”
Ghani later warned Biden, “Mr. President, we are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis thrown into this, so that dimension needs to be taken account of.”
Following the release of the phone call transcript excerpts, critics have accused Biden of knowingly misleading the nation while promising a “safe and orderly” exit out of Afghanistan.
However, all of the major networks, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NBC, have avoided mentioning the controversial phone call, according to Grabien transcripts.
Biden’s critics have compared his phone call with Ghani to former President Trump’s 2019 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, urging him to investigate Biden and his son Hunter. Ultimately, that phone call resulted in Trump’s impeachment.
CBS completely avoided the subject of Afghanistan during its evening newscast as well as MSNBC primetime hosts Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes on Wednesday.
“Telling the failing Afghan government to ‘fake it till you make it’ as a means of extending its reign as long as possible is a sad statement on cumulative US failures in Afghanistan but not a scandal any more than the war itself was,” Hayes wrote.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki dodged questions about Biden’s phone call with Ghani, saying “I’m not going to get into private, diplomatic conversations or leaked transcripts of phone calls.”
