'I Literally Just Answered That Question': Jean-Pierre on Biden's 'Help From the Taliban' Remark (June 30, 2023)

On June 30, 2023, the State Department released an after-action review that found it had failed to do enough planning before the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan in 2021 [4]. That afternoon, in the Roosevelt Room, a reporter asked President Biden whether he admitted mistakes. “No, no. All the evidence is coming back,” Biden said. “Do you remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said Al Qaida 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” [2]. At the White House briefing that day, reporters asked Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre what he meant. This short clip shows her final answer. Quotes are from the official transcripts published by the American Presidency Project [1][2].

Key Moments

”This is what he was referring to”

Asked whether Biden had been briefed on the review, and what he meant by “Read your press,” Jean-Pierre said she had not heard his remarks, then offered an explanation: “I think this is what he was referring to: He had to make a tough decision.” Biden, she said, wanted to end “the nation’s longest war,” where “billions of dollars go into a war that had no end in sight,” and “wanted to make sure that we remain vigilant against terrorism. … we took a leader of al Qaeda without having any troops — any troops on the ground” [1].

”If that’s what it lays out, that’s what it lays out”

Asked whether she agreed with the review’s findings and whether the administration accepted responsibility, she said: “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 going to comment further. … Clearly, it is part of the administration. If that’s what it lays out, that’s what it lays out.” A reporter then asked again what Biden meant by “We’d get help from the Taliban”; she called on someone else [1].

”I literally just answered that question”

Near the end of the briefing, another reporter asked: “Can you just explain what the President said when he said, ‘I said we’d … get help from the Taliban’?” “I literally just — I literally just answered that question to your colleague. I’m trying to explain to you where I thought he was coming from. I literally just went into that,” Jean-Pierre said, before moving to the next question [1].

”As dishonest in their approach”

Earlier, with the Supreme Court’s student loan ruling only hours old, a reporter asked whether Democrats were any better than Republicans on college costs. “The Democrats like to distinguish themselves as being different than Republicans in terms of this specific law, for example. But really, neither side is doing anything about the runaway cost of higher education. Nobody is really doing anything. I mean, this relief doesn’t do anything for future students,” the reporter said. “Are you — are Democrats not just, essentially, as dishonest in their approach as they accuse the other side of being in terms of the impact that they would have on students going forward?” [1]

Deputy National Economic Council Director Bharat Ramamurti took the question. “No, I think it’s a real problem,” he said, pointing to rules aimed at “holding colleges accountable for raising prices” [1].

The reporter followed up: “Republicans have offered to work with the President on measures to combat this — the actual cost of education. Is the President willing to work with the Republicans on that? Do you believe the Republicans are sincere?” [1]

“A little bit strained”

A reporter Jean-Pierre called Phil had two questions. “First, the other day, the President said that this is not a ‘normal’ Court. While the administration disagrees with this decision, does the administration think that it is legitimate?” the reporter asked. “And then, second, isn’t the comparison between student loans and the Paycheck Protection Program a little bit strained, given that some of those federal student loans were given with the expectation that they would be paid back, and then the Paycheck Protection Program loans were given to employers with the expectation that those loans would be forgiven if they kept folks on payroll during a pandemic?” [1]

“Yeah, so on your first question, you know, we — we accept the Court’s ruling. Of course, we disagree with it,” Ramamurti said. “We largely agree with the points that were made in the dissent.” On the PPP comparison, he said Republicans had never told the administration to “Slow down PPP forgiveness.” [1]

Fact Check

“I said Al Qaida would not be there.” Contradicted by the administration’s own record. On August 1, 2022, Biden announced that a U.S. strike in Kabul had killed al-Qaeda’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who “had moved to downtown Kabul to reunite with members of his immediate family” [3]. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that day: “By hosting and sheltering the leader of al Qa’ida in Kabul, the Taliban grossly violated the Doha Agreement and repeated assurances to the world that they would not allow Afghan territory to be used by terrorists to threaten the security of other countries” [5].
“I said we’d get help from the Taliban.” Not supported by the U.N. monitoring team that tracks the groups. A report in May found, as the AP summarized it, that “al-Qaida considers Afghanistan ‘a safe haven’ and that the Taliban had not met previous commitments on counterterrorism” [4]. Its next report, in July 2023, said: “The relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaida remains close and symbiotic. For the most part, Al-Qaida operates covertly in Afghanistan to help promote the narrative that the Taliban comply with agreements not to use Afghan soil for terrorist purposes” [6].
“We took a leader of al Qaeda without having any troops … on the ground.” Accurate. The Zawahiri strike was carried out from the air, part of what the administration calls an “over the horizon” capability [3][4].
Jean-Pierre’s answer. She did not explain the Taliban remark itself; her explanation addressed the decision to withdraw and the Zawahiri strike [1].

For other statements by Jean-Pierre that the record contradicted, see our article on her “$70 per gallon” mistake and other statements of hers that proved wrong, and for the White House’s own review of the withdrawal, see our article on John Kirby’s April 2023 briefing.

Background: The Reviews

The State Department review released that day “repeatedly blames the Trump and Biden administrations for their efforts before and after the August 2021 departure of U.S. forces from Kabul,” the AP reported. The evacuation brought out an estimated 124,000 people, and 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans died in a suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport [4][7]. In April, the White House had released its own summary of the agencies’ reviews, which argued that Biden’s options had been “severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor” [7].