McCarthy: Afghanistan One of 'the Greatest Disasters' in Nation's History; 'Going to Do Damage' for Decades to Come

Politics August 20 2021

Thursday on FNC’s “Hannity,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) voiced his frustration over the Biden administration’s mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

He argued for Congress’ involvement and warned of the long-lasting implications that failure would have on the United States.

Partial transcript as follows:

HANNITY: You know, with Americans in harm’s way behind enemy lines — to be honest, Congressman, I’m not interested in the politics of anything tonight. I’m interested in one thing only, and that’s getting our fellow Americans home.

With that said, I do think Congress needs to be brought in. I think we need to be briefed. Our intel apparently had been warning — both intel in the House and the Senate, members of both sides of the aisle — have been warning not to do this now, the danger was real.

But more importantly, what options might be available? And how — and how can we put that plan in place?

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MINORITY LEADER: Sean, that’s true. I mean, every single member of Congress should be one focused — to get those Americans home. I ask for a true accounting of the number of Americans.

And, Sean, when we get it, I’m going to ask you and every show on every network, put that number on your show and let’s count it down until every single American comes home.

The idea that our military’s saying they don’t have the capabilities to go out, yes, they do. We just need the will, and I think all Americans should stand for that.

What this disaster has done is put a stain on our nation’s status for years to come. I’ve heard from ambassadors of other nations that are our allies, they said they can’t go back and tell them whether America will be there again. We’re watching what China is doing with Taiwan, what Russia talks about within the Baltics.

I’m hearing reports that the Taliban now has more Blackhawks than our allies Australia, the weaponry that was left. This is a complete disaster and we should have a complete accounting of it. And yes, if it holds to that, we’ll uphold our constitutional duty.

Right now, we are focused on bringing every single American home. Stop asking the Taliban for permission and let’s go bring the Americans home.

HANNITY: Do you like what the British are doing? They’re sending in their paratroopers.

MCCARTHY: Yes, I like what the British are doing but also think about what the British and French are saying. We no longer could count on America. We’ve got to start doing something else. Remember, they went there to help America to stop the terrorists.

The other thing, Sean, that we need to do is shut down our border. Even earlier this year, we have been catching people on the terrorist watch list coming across our border. Five thousand prisoners have just left in Afghanistan.

America is less safe today because of what this president has done. And the president to sit there and tell us that he has planned for every scenario, why wouldn’t they stop planning? Who would plan this way?

Why would they remove in a time of the height of the Taliban in the summer? If they wanted to draw down, why wouldn’t they do it in winter and give the capability?

To criticize the Afghan military that has been losing thousands of lives every month, we had stabilized this nation, without a casualty in the last 18 months with 25 of our very best. And now we had to move 7,000 back in.

This is one of the greatest disasters in the history of this nation and it is going to do damage for us for decades to come.

HANNITY: And Donald Trump was very clear, if one American is harmed there will be hell and fury to pay. And they believed him and there wasn’t a single American killed in almost, what, 18 months.

Leader McCarthy, thank you.

MCCARTHY: You know why they believe him? Because he would do it.

HANNITY: They did believe him. You’re right.