Fact Check: Jen Psaki Falsely Claims Joe Biden’s Refusal to Answer Questions About Afghanistan Was Not About Afghanistan

Claim: White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden was not referring to Afghanistan when he refused to answer questions about Afghanistan.

She said:

I think what he was trying to convey to all of you is that he is heading into July Fourth weekend, a weekend for family, a weekend to celebrate America, and that he was ready to be done answering questions. It wasn’t a–it wasn’t related to Afghanistan.

Verdict: FALSE. President Biden literally said, “I’m not going to answer any more questions about Afghanistan” while speaking with reporters at the White House on Friday.

“I’m not going to answer any more questions about Afghanistan,” he told a reporter in the room.

Biden was not pleased that reporters repeatedly asked him about the future of the country as he pursues his plan to continue withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan despite new threats posed by the Taliban.

“I want to talk about happy things, man!” Biden protested when reporters asked more questions about Afghanistan.

American troops and NATO forces left the Bagram airbase on Friday, a key military location in the country. The airbase will be transferred to Afghan officials in a ceremony on Saturday. The American Embassy in Kabul, however, will be protected by 650 remaining American troops.

When asked by a reporter if Biden’s comment represented Biden’s fatigue about the war in Afghanistan, Psaki replied, “I would say I think people are a little over reading into his response to a Q&A leading into a holiday weekend when he had already answered three questions on Afghanistan.”

Biden is following the lead of former President Donald Trump on getting Americans out of the Afghanistan war which has lasted nearly 20 years.

Trump set a May 1, 2021 deadline for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan before leaving office, but Biden announced in April he would wait until September 11.