White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki explained on Wednesday the reason why President Joe Biden did not mention the 13 service members killed in Afghanistan during the disastrous withdrawal last August during his State of the Union address is because he simply did not have time to cover all topics.
Speaking with MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire, Psaki was asked why Biden did not mention the January 6th Capitol riot. Psaki replied Biden has made his feelings about that day perfectly clear but then said because the State of the Union speech is so big that covers many topics, there wasn't time to mention everything, which is applicable to the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"Look, a speech like the State of the Union, it’s hugely important. It doesn’t touch on — it doesn’t have the time to touch on everything that is a priority," Psaki said, adding they are actively supporting efforts to hold the people involved in the riot "accountable."
Psaki did not have much to say about the moment when Reps. Lauren Bobert (R-CO) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) shouted at Biden about the 13 service members killed in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber, which Psaki nor Lemire mention what Bobert and Greene were shouting about.
"I think that says a lot more about them than it does about how important these priorities are, and how much the vast majority of people who were sitting there watching in that chamber last night could work together to solve exactly those problems," said Psaki.
It's no question why Biden did not mention the withdrawal in Afghanistan in the State of the Union: it was so poorly done. Despite the tragic loss in life from both Americans and Afghans in the attack outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport, Biden administration officials have tried to tout the "success" of the mass evacuations that resulted in Americans and Afghans who worked with he U.S. being left behind.
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