NASHVILLE, TN—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, today released the following statement after the Biden Administration announced that it would not change the original and arbitrary August 31st deadline to evacuate from Afghanistan:
“The American people have to ask themselves: who is in charge, Joe Biden or the Taliban? Instead of owning the mantle of commander-in-chief and adequately responding to changing events on the ground in Afghanistan, President Biden continues to focus on a self-congratulatory press release and may have now damned all American citizens and our allies who remain in the country after Biden retreats. This is humiliating for the United States and our allies. And it’s weak. We have a duty to ensure every American is evacuated safely.”