Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" with guest host Brianna Keilar, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) criticized President Joe Biden for the ongoing chaos in Afghanistan, but added that the problems in leaving the country after twenty years can be traced to both Democrats and Republicans.
Along the way, he singled out former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Donald Trump of getting "rolled" by the Taliban.
Discussing Biden, Kinzinger began, "Look, I certainly think he's trying. I'm not going to say that President Biden at this moment wants to do anything but that. I think the execution has been extremely disastrous. I also think you have to go back not just early in this administration, but especially the last administration and, frankly, even President Obama's and say, why was this Afghan CIV issue, special visas processed so slowly? I've been working on this since we've I've been in Congress, by the way. "
"Why did [Trump adviser] Stephen Miller particularly in the last administration slow it down? A Republican staffer on the Judiciary saying there is not a chance we would be able to slip in, raising the cap on special immigrant visas to get help rid of some of this backlog," he continued. "And then, of course, the State Department under multi administrations, why was it so slow at processing these? But we are where we are."
"You're seeing members of your party, some of whom you mentioned there, President Trump, certainly others, Mike Pompeo, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, and they criticized the President Biden administration despite contributing to this SIV backlog. What's your reaction to them rewriting history?" host Keilar asked.
'You know, it's amazing," he lamented. "What breaks my heart probably more than anything on a political side is that America is being displayed out in the world and embarrassed in the world and our American allies are saying America looks weak. Honestly, the Republicans are putting out talking points to make Biden look bad, the Democrats are putting out talking points to the administration -- the past administration. They are both responsible. We're so tribalistic as a country, it's hard to imagine a Republican saying everybody is responsible."
"Let's keep in mind, Mike Pompeo met with the Taliban as Donald Trump was publicly saying we have to get out of Afghanistan at all costs. -- it's not worth it," he continued. "Mike Pompeo meets with the Taliban and tries to negotiate something. By the way, they end up getting rolled harder than ever-- almost as hard as Neville Chamberlain because they knew what the outcome was. They set this up to fail but always, of course, Joe Biden could have easily turned this around and instead used it as the excuse to get out. Both parties have failed the American people."
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