Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) Questions White House Numbers On Americas Still Stranded In Afghanistan

Listen To The Full Interview Below:

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH/16) joined Fox News Radio’s Guy Benson Show to talk about the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the efforts to get Americans home who have been stranded in the now Taliban controlled country.

Rep. Gonzalez questioned the White House’s official numbers of American citizen’s who are still stuck in Afghanistan after the withdrawal saying,

“I think looking at what happened in Afghanistan with that withdrawal shows that the Biden administration has no ability to understand who the Taliban is and how they operate, and also has been on their back foot the entire time as one press conference after another. They basically contradict themselves or have to correct themselves within 20, 30 minutes. So it’s been a real disaster and there’s real world consequences. We have people stuck in Afghanistan. I have people stuck in Afghanistan, he said. One hundred to two hundred. I will just tell you, I’ve talked to a handful of members in my numbers already at one hundred, and I haven’t talked to that many people. So I think they’re way short on that number, which will, you know, be another example of them just being wrong on what’s happening over there.“

Rep. Gonzalez explained what he was told by State Department officials,

“I’ll give you a perfect example. I don’t think this has been reported. So Secretary Blinken goes on TV and says if an American wants to come home, they will be able to come home and we believe we can work with the Taliban. OK, so I called the task force, the congressional task force immediately after he gets gets done with that press conference. OK, I have five people. I need help. You just said that they can come home and that the Taliban is going to work with us. So what do I tell the people that are stuck in Afghanistan? And the response was tell them to hide. Tell them to shelter in place and tell them we cannot help them because the military is gone. And the only thing that they’re going to be able to do as of now is wait for the airport to reopen so they can buy a ticket. Does that sound like a partnership to you? It sounds like a hostage situation. It sounds like do everything you can not to upset the Taliban or, you know, God help you. And that was the advice I got from the State Department five minutes after Secretary Blinken just got off off stage telling people that anybody who wanted to leave could leave.”

Rep. Gonzalez relayed what stranded Americans told him while trying to leave Afghanistan saying,

“Exactly. And then the other thing they say is, well, you know, we got everybody, mostly everybody who wants to come out suggesting that maybe my folks didn’t want to come out. OK, well, let me let me explain that situation, because I talked to them. They said, look, we went where the State Department told us to go. The Taliban was shooting bullets over our heads. It was a mom and her kids. The Taliban said to the mother, go home. We don’t want to see you again. If we see you again, we’re going to shoot you in front of your kids. That’s our partner, that’s who we’re negotiating with now, that’s who’s going to help us get American citizens out of Afghanistan. I mean, it’s just it’s fantasy thinking. I have no idea who thinks it’s a good idea to negotiate with the Taliban, but it’s patently insane. They’ve shown time and again that whether it’s Taliban 2.0 or the original Taliban, they are a terrorist state that will do everything they can to acquire power and crush their own people. Inclusive of that will be holding Americans hostage in Afghanistan.”