On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” White House NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said he doesn’t think the handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was a gift for China’s propaganda machine, and, if anything, China and Russia “had to marvel at the speed, the efficiency, and the effectiveness” with which a small group of troops “were able to move that many Afghans safely out of that country.”
Co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked, [relevant exchange begins around 5:10] “Let’s talk about the Defense Department’s annual report. Because it is saying that Biden’s fumbled withdrawal from Afghanistan was a propaganda gift to China. Do you agree with that?”
Kirby responded, “No, I do not. And I don’t know that that’s the Pentagon’s assessment that it was a propaganda gift to China. If anything, nations like China and Russia took a look at what we did in Afghanistan — and we’ve talked about this many, many times over the last year — and had to marvel at the speed, the efficiency, and the effectiveness that a very small number of troops…were able to move that many Afghans safely out of that country. No other nation in the world can do that.”
He added, “So, the report said that China attempted to capitalize on it. That’s a big difference from saying that they did or were able to capitalize on this. I mean, they spread propaganda about everything, Brian. You know that. But, look at how strongly the international community has rallied around Ukraine. China has not been able to succeed in trying to convince people that that was some sort of weakness by the United States.”
Kirby further stated, “We have admitted and acknowledged that not everything about the withdrawal was done perfectly, that there were certainly mistakes made. We’ve investigated those mistakes. We’ve owned up for those mistakes.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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