National security adviser Jake Sullivan could not rule out the possibility of a homeland attack — either from an outside force or from white supremacists.
Sullivan joined Sunday’s “State of the Union,” where he told CNN anchor Jake Tapper that ongoing general threats were “credible” and that a number of groups were actively seeking the capability to execute an attack against the U.S. (RELATED: ‘Does That Sound Like Not Taking It Lying Down?’: Dana Bash Challenges Biden’s National Security Adviser On Pressuring China)
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Tapper began by saying he had heard reports that officials were concerned about the possibility of a threat to the U.S. homeland in the wake of the evacuation set to conclude August 31 in Afghanistan.
“It could be from racist white supremacists, Islamic terrorists. Do you know of any threats to the homeland in the wake of this withdrawal? And how concerned are you?” Tapper asked.
“The general threat is credible,” Sullivan replied, adding that he did not have specific intelligence indicating an imminent threat from either white supremacists or Islamists.
“We are tracking that day by day. There are multiple terrorist groups from Yemen, Syria, Somalia, who are actively seeking the capability to attack the U.S. So, we are constantly looking at that,” Sullivan continued, adding, “And then finally, of course, we have to be attuned to the possibility that ISIS-K or any other group within Afghanistan would look to extend its reach beyond Afghanistan itself.”
Sullivan went on to say that while those groups did not appear to have the capability to threaten the U.S. homeland, they were seeking it.
“We will continue to pay close attention to that and try to disrupt it to the maximum extent possible,” he concluded.