President Joe Biden took no questions about his crisis in Afghanistan on Wednesday afternoon following remarks that he made at a cybersecurity event.
At the end of his brief remarks, Biden was repeatedly asked what he would do if Americans were still trapped in Afghanistan following the August 31st deadline.
Mr. President, if Americans are still in Afghanistan after the deadline, what will you do?” the reporter asked. “Sir, what will you do if Americans are still there after the deadline? No? Okay.”
Biden did not answer and then the audio was cut.
“The White House cuts the President’s microphone,” Political strategist Josh Holmes noted online. “Pretty remarkable.”
WATCH:
REPORTER: “If Americans are still in Afghanistan after the deadline what will you do?”
BIDEN: *smirks*
*White House cuts audio feed* pic.twitter.com/k0SGWhpXm6
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 25, 2021
NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander, who asked Biden the question, tweeted about the exchange, noting that Biden responded by saying to him, “You’ll be the first person I call.”
“[Biden] took no questions,” Alexander added.
A White House transcript that was released showed that a reporter, presumably Alexander, responded by saying, “Please call them.”
I asked President Biden what he will do if Americans are still in Afghanistan after the 8/31 deadline.
His response: “You’ll be the first person I call.”
Took no questions. pic.twitter.com/MlyFIayrMZ— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) August 25, 2021
Biden has largely refused to answer questions from the media about the crisis that was created under his leadership. The two times that he did answer questions he called on a list of pre-selected reporters who many critics said did not press him as hard as they could have.
Biden also gave an interview to ABC News host George Stephanopoulos, which was pre-recorded. ABC News only aired certain portions of the interview as a transcript released by a network showed that there were over 900 words from the president that were not televised.