KJP Has No Idea What Biden Meant by “Read Your Press” and “I Was Right” on Afghanistan

On June 30, 2023, President Biden was defiant when asked about the State Department’s after-action review of the Afghanistan withdrawal, declaring “I was right” and telling reporters to “read your press.” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was subsequently unable to explain what Biden meant by those comments and refused to say whether the President accepted responsibility for the chaotic evacuation. The briefing came as Republican critics accused the administration of burying the damaging report by releasing only 24 of 87 pages on a Friday before a holiday weekend.

Biden: “I Was Right” on Afghanistan

When reporters confronted Biden about the State Department’s after-action review, which detailed failures in planning before the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan, Biden refused to acknowledge any mistakes.

A reporter asked directly: “Mr. President, do you admit a failure in Afghanistan? Mistakes, there was a report on Afghanistan in withdrawal saying there was failure, mistakes, do you admit there was mistakes during the withdrawal and before?”

Biden responded defiantly: “No, no, all the evidence is coming back there. Remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said, Al-Qaeda would not be there. I said it wouldn’t be there. I said we’d get help from the Taliban. What’s happening now? What’s going on? Read your press. I was right.”

The claim that “we’d get help from the Taliban” was particularly striking, given that the Taliban had seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021 during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal and had since imposed authoritarian rule, restricted women’s rights, and been accused of harboring terrorism-linked groups. Biden’s assertion that events had vindicated his decision drew sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers and military families.

KJP Cannot Explain “Read Your Press”

During the subsequent White House briefing, Jean-Pierre was unable to explain what Biden meant when he told reporters to “read your press” in response to questions about the Afghanistan review.

A reporter asked: “Can you just on the report, has the president reviewed it or been briefed on it? He just asked about it in the reasonable room and he said, read your press. And I wasn’t really clear what he was trying to say there.”

Jean-Pierre’s response was notably uncertain: “Well, I didn’t hear, I know that he was asked about this particular review or this action after action review that was given. Look, what I can speak to is more broadly what the president has said. And I think this is what he was referring to. He had to make a tough decision, right? In the beginning of his administration, he had to make a tough decision.”

Rather than explaining Biden’s specific words, Jean-Pierre pivoted to general talking points about the difficulty of the withdrawal decision, suggesting even she did not understand what Biden had meant by telling reporters to read their own coverage.

Refusing to Accept Responsibility

Reporters repeatedly pressed Jean-Pierre on whether Biden accepted responsibility for the failures outlined in the State Department review. The report specifically found that senior administration officials were to blame for the chaotic exit, including for failing to decide which Afghans should be eligible for evacuation and for issuing changing guidance.

A reporter laid out the report’s findings: “The report specifically says that senior administration officials were to blame for the chaotic exit for failing to decide which Afghans should be eligible for evacuation and for issuing changing guidance. Do you agree with the report? Do you accept responsibility?”

Jean-Pierre deflected to the State Department: “What I’m saying, the report came from the State Department. It’s an action after action report. I will just let it speak for itself. I’m just not gonna comment further. This is a State Department report. Clearly it is part of the administration. If that’s what it lays out, that’s what it lays out.”

The answer treated the State Department as a separate entity from the White House, despite being part of the same administration, and Jean-Pierre’s phrasing of “if that’s what it lays out, that’s what it lays out” appeared designed to acknowledge the report without accepting its conclusions.

”Get Help From the Taliban”

When a reporter asked Jean-Pierre to explain Biden’s claim that he said the U.S. would “get help from the Taliban,” she could not provide clarification. The reporter pressed: “Can you just explain what the president said when he said I said…”

Jean-Pierre cut the reporter off: “I just, I literally just, I literally just answered that question to your colleague and trying to explain to you where I thought he was coming from. I literally just went into that.”

The inability to explain what Biden meant by “get help from the Taliban” was significant because the claim was factually dubious. While the U.S. had engaged in negotiations with the Taliban leading up to the withdrawal, the Taliban’s subsequent behavior, including their rapid military takeover, had not constituted “help” by any conventional understanding.

Republicans Accuse Administration of Hiding Report

House Oversight Committee Chairman Michael Comer released a statement criticizing the administration for only releasing 24 of the 87 pages of the Afghanistan after-action report. A reporter read the statement to Jean-Pierre: “Chairman Michael Cole released a statement a couple minutes ago, criticizing the administration for only releasing 24 of the 87 pages of the Afghanistan after action report and saying this is another blatant attempt to hide the Biden administration’s culpability in the chaotic and deadly evacuation from Afghanistan.”

The reporter then asked about the timing: “What message does it send to release this long anticipated report on a Friday, on a heavy news day ahead of a holiday week?”

Jean-Pierre deferred to the State Department on the timing but pushed back on the transparency criticism: “This administration has consistently provided updates, information on the withdrawal from Afghanistan. We have provided that information any time that we have been asked.”

She then cited the volume of materials released: “I just laid out thousands of pages of documents, just laying it out. Analysis, just laying it out. Spreadsheets, just laying it out. Responses to questions.”

When the reporter asked if she disagreed with the premise that the administration was trying to downplay its culpability, Jean-Pierre confirmed: “Well, I disagree with the premise, but I’m also laying out what we’ve actually done.”

Additional Context

The State Department’s after-action review, released on June 30, 2023, was the Biden administration’s most comprehensive internal assessment of the August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. The evacuation had resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in a suicide bombing at Abbey Gate outside Kabul airport and left behind an unknown number of Americans and Afghan allies who had been promised evacuation.

The review blamed both the Trump and Biden administrations for failures in planning and execution but specifically cited Biden administration officials for not adequately preparing for the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and military. The decision to release it on a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend, with nearly three-quarters of the pages withheld, reinforced the perception that the administration was attempting to minimize its impact.

Key Takeaways

• Biden declared “I was right” about Afghanistan and refused to admit any mistakes, claiming he had predicted that “Al-Qaeda would not be there” and that the U.S. would “get help from the Taliban.”
• Jean-Pierre could not explain what Biden meant by telling reporters to “read your press,” admitting only that she thought he was referring to his earlier decision to withdraw.
• Jean-Pierre refused to accept responsibility for the failures outlined in the State Department review, saying she would “let it speak for itself” and deflecting to the State Department.
• Republicans accused the administration of hiding the report’s full findings, noting only 24 of 87 pages were released on a Friday before a holiday weekend.
• Jean-Pierre disagreed with the premise that the administration was downplaying its culpability, citing “thousands of pages of documents” provided over time.