ICYMI: McConnell on Fox News Channel’s ‘Special Report with Bret Baier’
LOUISVILLE, KY – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) joined Bret Baier on Fox News Channel’s ‘Special Report with Bret Baier’ tonight. See below for highlights or click here to watch the full interview:
On the Biden’s Administration’s Precipitous and Incompetent Withdrawal from Afghanistan:
“Well, first, let's talk about the decision to withdraw, itself. We were spending about one percent of the Pentagon budget every year to keep the lid on in Afghanistan. We hadn't lost a single American soldier in combat in the last year. It was working. It was working because we went there to prevent al Qaeda from being back in full operational mode under the Taliban and to sort of keep the lid on.
“My guess is we're going to end up spending way more trying to evacuate people with this slipshod operation. It’s an embarrassment. It’s a stain on our national reputation. There are up to 15,000 Americans stranded out in the country who presumably have to beg the Taliban to let them get to the airport, not to mention the interpreters who worked with us and other Afghans who are in danger because they cooperated with us. All of this is the aftermath of the decision first to withdrawal, and then to withdrawal in a precipitous and incompetent way.”
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“This is entirely predictable. I, for one, along with others, have been predicting it's exactly what would happen. The only question was how quickly would it happen? And I’m, frankly, not surprised that there is a total collapse.”
On the Aftermath of the Precipitous and Incompetent Withdrawal from Afghanistan:
“One thing we know for sure the terrorists around the world are cheering. The terrorists in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen, in Africa, they’re all watching the Taliban flag fly over the capital in Afghanistan and over the presidential palace in Kabul. The Taliban has in effect, in their eyes, defeated the United States of America. It’s an utter embarrassment.
“Our allies won't trust us. This was an incredibly incompetent step. Previous presidents have wanted to leave Afghanistan as well but in the end they didn't because we knew we had the lid on. We knew we had held al-Qaeda down and that's the most we could have hoped for in Afghanistan. Nobody thought we were going to create a Jeffersonian western-style democracy there.”
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“As I said, I wouldn't have left. I think the policy we were pursuing was working. If you were going to leave, at least you have to have a game plan to try to rescue the people who are endangered by these barbarians who are now in charge of this country.”
On the Democrats' $3.5 Trillion Reckless Tax and Spending Spree:
“Well, of course I’m hoping the $3.5 to $5 trillion tax increase is going to be defeated. That will be determined within the Democratic Party. Every single Republican in the House and Senate is totally opposed to it.
“Just go back to February of 2020, we had the best economy in 50 years, and a big reason for that was the 2017 tax bill. They want to take that and rip it up and raise taxes on big businesses, small businesses, estates, hardworking people who make much less than $400,000 a year. It’s a devastating blow to the economy on top of the inflation we already have created by the big spending spree that they engaged in earlier this year. So I think they're clearly trying to take the country in the wrong direction.”
Related Issues: War on Terror, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda
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