A July video of President Joe Biden saying the Taliban would not take over Afghanistan has been viewed 10 million times at the time of publication.
The video was posted on Twitter by @polarisnatsec on Aug. 13. In it, a reporter asks Biden in regard to the Afghanistan withdrawal: “Is a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?” Biden replies, “No, it is not. Because you— the Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped— as well-equipped as any army in the world — and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban. It is not inevitable.”(RELATED: REPORT: At Least 3 Dead After Taliban Open Fire On Afghan Protesters Attempting To Raise National Flag)
WATCH:
36 days ago, President Biden told the American people that the Taliban would not take over #Afghanistan after he ordered the removal of U.S. troops. pic.twitter.com/FiG5pWsyey
— POLARIS (@polarisnatsec) August 13, 2021
Another reporter says, “Your own intelligence community has assessed that the Afghan government will likely collapse—”
“That is not true,” Biden interjects.
“Can you please clarify what they have told you about whether that will happen or not?” the reporter finishes.
“That is not true. They did not … reach that conclusion,” Biden says.
The same reporter then asked what the level of confidence is that the Afghan government will not collapse.
“The Afghan government leadership has to come together,” Biden replies. “They clearly have the capacity to sustain the government in place.”
A third reporter asks if Biden saw any parallels with the withdrawal from Afghanistan compared to Vietnam.
“None whatsoever. Zero,” Biden replies. “What you had is, you had entire brigades breaking through the gates of our embassy. Six if I’m not mistaken. The Taliban is not the North Vietnamese Army. They’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance you see people being lifted off the roof of the embassy of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.”
“The likelihood there is going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely,” Biden adds.
The evacuation of U.S. Embassy personnel in Kabul, Afghanistan, after the Taliban toppled Afghanistan’s U.S.-backed government over the weekend, triggered waves of criticism from both sides of the political aisle. The Taliban’s fast takeover also has critics comparing the U.S. withdrawal to the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.