Biden accused of ‘lying’ after his top generals contradict his ABC interview on Afghanistan withdrawal

During Tuesday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Senator Jim Inhofe questioned Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and head of US Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie about the recommendation to leave troops in Afghanistan whether Biden was made aware of this recommendation.

"But I will give you my honest opinion. And my honest opinion and view shaped my recommendation," said McKenzie.

"I recommended that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. And I also recommended earlier in the fall of 2020 that we maintain 4,500 at that time. Those are my personal views. I also have a view that the withdrawal of those forces would lead inevitably to the collapse of the Afghan military forces and eventually the Afghan government," he said.

"I recommended that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. And I also recommended earlier in the fall of 2020 that we maintain 4,500 at that time. Those are my personal views. I also have a view that the withdrawal of those forces would lead inevitably to the collapse of the Afghan military forces and eventually the Afghan government," he said.

"Yes, I understand that. And General Milley, I assume you agree with that in terms of the recommendation of 2,500," responded Inhofe.

"What I said in my opening statement and the memoranda that I wrote back in the fall of 2020 remained consistent. And I do agree with that," replied Milley.

"This committee is unsure as to whether or not general Miller's recommendation ever got to the President. You know, obviously, they're conversations with the President. But I would like to ask even though, General McKenzie, I think you've all made the statement," said Inhofe.

"Did you talk to the President about general Miller's recommendation?" he asked.

"Sir, I was present when that discussion occurred. And I'm confident that the President heard all the recommendations and listened to him very thoughtfully," McKenzie stated.

Following the exchange, Biden's response to an interview with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos in August came to light as Biden claimed he never received such recommendations from military leaders.

"Your top military advisors warned against withdrawing on this timeline," Stephanopolous said. "They wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops—"

"No, they didn't." Biden interrupted. "It was split. That wasn't true. That wasn't true."

"They didn't tell you that they wanted troops to stay?" Stephanopolous asked.

"No, not in terms of whether we were going to get out in a time frame all troops. They didn't argue against that," Biden said.

"So no one told you, your military advisors did not tell you no, we should just keep 2,500 troops, it's been a stable situation for the past couple of years, we can do that, we can continue to do that," Stephanopoulos pressed.

"No," Biden said, "no one said that, that I can recall."

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki issued a clarifying statement following Milley and McKenzie's testimony, saying that Biden said that his advisors were "split" and that this accounts for the difference in remembrance of recommendations.

Following the testimonies, many officials expressed their frustrations with Biden on Twitter by saying, "Biden lied."