Republicans claim Joe Biden is taking a ‘vacation’ at Camp David as chaos unfolds in Afghanistan

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The world asks ‘where’s Joe?’ as the President Zooms his National Security Council alone at Camp David while chaos unfolds in Afghanistan.   

Joe Biden was lambasted for ‘going on vacation’ on Sunday as he remained silent on Afghanistan while the capital city of Kabul was overrun by the Taliban. 

Criticism of his handling of the situation is mounting after global commentators and liberal media are calling his behaviour shameless.  

Following the fall of Kabul into the hands of the militants on Sunday, footage of Biden repeatedly claiming a takeover was ‘not inevitable’ re-emerged. 

The video has further fuelled criticism of the Administration and Biden’s judgment as commander-in-chief is being called into question. 

He said he did not regret his decision to remove all US troops from Afghanistan, despite mounting concerns of Taliban insurgents reclaiming powers.  

In the video from July 8, the President is asked whether the Taliban seizing power was ‘inevitable’.

Mr Biden said: ‘No, it is not. Because the Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped, as well as food as any army in the world, troops and an Air Force, against something like 75,00 Taliban. It is not inevitable.’ 

Criticism of the ‘inadequate’ exit is also mounting, as Biden plans to send troops back into the country to evacuate people left behind. 

According to the New York Post, his predecessor Donald Trump called the US a ‘laughing stock’ as the Taliban ‘no longer had fear’ for America under Biden.  

Trump said he planned on getting people out ‘safely’ and ‘with respect’ and planned to remove civilians before the military.  

He added: ‘Plus, I had a relationship with the Taliban where they knew they weren’t allowed to do this. They understood they were going to get hit very hard.

‘What I had was conversations with the [Taliban] leadership where I said if you do anything we were going to hit them like they haven’t been hit before.’  

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken why the Biden administration didn’t evacuate people before withdrawing the military.  

Tapper said: ‘The idea that President Biden ordered 2,500 service members out and now is sending up to 5,000 service members back in [to evacuate people left behind], does that not on its face show that the exit was inadequately planned?’

Blinken failed to provide an answer to the question and blamed the Trump administration, despite concerns Biden is making the US ‘less safe’.    

Critics say the president’s decision to wind down America’s longest conflict has undone 20 years of work and sacrifice.

His handling of the exit has paved the way for a humanitarian catastrophe and called US credibility into question. 

Many people have remained sceptical of Biden’s view that the Kabul government could be expected to maintain the country’s security by itself, and he was warned of the potential outcomes.

With the fall of the capital city on Sunday, people question if America may regret Biden’s move to take the military out of Afghanistan. 

‘It is a stain on our nation’s integrity and honor that even just a few months ago, we were not meeting our obligation to the men and women, our Afghan allies who served alongside us,’ Jake Wood, a former US Marine and Afghan war veteran, told CNN.

‘We owe them the special immigrant visas. We owe them safety, every bit as much as we owe safety to our embassy workers in Kabul.’ 

The families of the 2,312 American military personnel who died there, and the 20,066 who were wounded now question what the last 20 years of sacrifice were for. 

Critics say president Biden could have taken more time to secure the capital and left troops for the purpose of peacekeeping, but he said he ‘inherited’ Trump’s withdrawal plans.  

Republicans called the lack of leadership ‘an embarrassment’, while former President Donald Trump called for Biden’s resignation. 

‘First thing’s first, why is Joe Biden on vacation, why hasn’t his administration taken a single question? This is an embarrassment,’ Ohio Representative Jim Jordan told Fox News‘s Sunday Morning Futures.

The Republican congressman and Trump ally also tweeted on Sunday: ‘America’s in crisis. Afghanistan’s in chaos. Why’s Joe Biden on vacation?’

Biden sent out a statement on Saturday afternoon on the unfolding crisis – where he announced 5,000 troops would be deployed to help with evacuations and also blamed predecessor Donald Trump for the disastrous withdrawal.

Since then, the president has not released any written or verbal statements or remarks.  

The White House did, however, tweet an image of Biden being briefed via video chat at Camp David on Sunday about the ongoing developments in Afghanistan.

‘This morning, the President and Vice President met with their national security team and senior officials to hear updates on the draw down of our civilian personnel in Afghanistan, evacuations of SIV applicants and other Afghan allies, and the ongoing security situation in Kabul,’ the Sunday afternoon tweet read.   

Former President Donald Trump sent a statement to his followers calling on President Joe Biden to ‘resign in disgrace’ on Sunday amid the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US troops.

‘It is time for Joe Biden to resign in disgrace for what he has allowed to happen to Afghanistan, along with the tremendous surge in COVID, the Border catastrophe, the destruction of energy independence, and our crippled economy,’ Trump said in an email.

He continued perpetuating his claim that Biden won the presidency via election fraud, concluding the email: ‘It shouldn’t be a big deal, because he wasn’t elected legitimately in the first place.’ 

Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik wrote of Biden: ‘America is in crisis. And Joe Biden is on vacation.’ 

‘No person who calls themselves the President of the United States should be on vacation while the world crumbles down around them. The dereliction of duty continues…’ Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert tweeted of Biden.

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton accused Biden of ‘hiding’.

‘Why is Joe Biden in hiding?’ he questioned on Twitter. ‘He should immediately address the nation and answer for the catastrophic situation in Afghanistan. Conference calls between cabinet secretaries and senators don’t cut it in a crisis.’

The president and first lady Jill Biden departed for Camp David on Friday where they will remain until Wednesday.

Historically, the military installation in the outskirts of Washington, D.C. has been used for both work and relaxation retreats by U.S. presidents. The facilities are fully equipped with secure video-conferencing technology.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said last week that Biden ‘likes Camp David.’

‘It’s a place to be outside, spend time with family and certainly has beautiful, beautiful scenery there,’ she said.

Senators and members of the House were briefed on calls Sunday about the situation in Afghanistan.

Republican representatives, however, lamented that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked them from asking questions to Biden’s top military officials. 

They also said it was telling that the officials and Biden did not anticipate such a swift takeover by the Taliban.

‘On the conference call briefing for members of Congress with Biden officials. It’s clear the Biden administration was caught unprepared, didn’t anticipate this catastrophe and the President is hiding & asleep at the wheel,’ Congressman Jim Banks tweeted on Sunday.

By Sunday – and in just over a week – the Taliban was able to take control of 28 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces and breached the capital city of Kabul.

The U.S. Embassy needed evacuation by helicopter and the American flag on the compound was lowered on Sunday.

Still, the president remained radio silent.

On Saturday evening, Biden passed the buck to his predecessor, claiming that Trump ‘left the Taliban in the strongest military position’ since the U.S. invaded two decades ago. 

‘When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor—which he invited the Taliban to discuss at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 of 2019—that left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001 and imposed a May 1, 2021 deadline on US forces,’ Biden wrote in a statement Saturday.

‘Shortly before he left office, he also drew US forces down to a bare minimum of 2,500,’ the president continued in blaming former President Trump for the unfolding disaster in Afghanistan. ‘Therefore, when I became President, I faced a choice—follow through on the deal, with a brief extension to get our forces and our allies’ forces out safely, or ramp up our presence and send more American troops to fight once again in another country’s civil conflict.’

Biden vowed he would not pass on the war in the Middle East to whoever is president after him.

‘I was the fourth President to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan — two Republicans, two Democrats,’ he continued. ‘I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth.’

Trump immediately fired back at Biden in his own email statement on Saturday claiming that due to the current administration’s actions, the Taliban don’t fear or respect America.

‘Joe Biden gets it wrong every time on foreign policy, and many other issues,’ he wrote. ‘Everyone knew he couldn’t handle the pressure.’

‘He ran out of Afghanistan instead of following the plan our Administration left for him—a plan that protected our people and our property, and ensured the Taliban would never dream of taking our Embassy or providing a base for new attacks against America,’ the former president continued.

‘The withdrawal would be guided by facts on the ground,’ Trump said of the deal he made in 2019 with leaders of the Taliban. ‘After I took out ISIS, I established a credible deterrent. That deterrent is now gone.’

‘The Taliban no longer has fear or respect for America, or America’s power,’ he said. ‘What a disgrace it will be when the Taliban raises their flag over America’s Embassy in Kabul.’

‘This is complete failure through weakness, incompetence, and total strategic incoherence.’