White House responds to calls for Biden’s resignation, saying ‘everyone should be supportive’ of the mission in Afghanistan

Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked if "the White House has any reaction to the swath of Republican lawmakers who are now calling for the president to resign over this?"

"Well, I have to say," Psaki replied, "seeing this occur, or be called for, or be put out on Twitter, y'know, the backdrop here, the US men and women of the military deployed on the ground are bravely continuing to implement a mission to save lives on the ground. American citizens, Afghan partners, many people that some of these same individuals are calling for us to evacuate."

"Yesterday," she said, "they lost 13 of their own. And the president made absolutely clear that we are going to hunt down, go after, and kill the terrorists who are responsible. Everyone should be supportive of that."

On Thursday, in the wake of the ongoing disastrous evacuation of American military personnel, civilians, and Afghan allies, Senator John Hawley, along with Senator Marsha Blackburn, called for President Biden to resign.

Hawley said "To say that today’s loss of American lives in Kabul is sickening does not begin to do justice to what has happened. It is enraging. And Joe Biden is responsible. It is now clear beyond all doubt that he has neither the capacity nor the will to lead. He must resign."

He issued a further statement that read "We must reject the falsehood peddled by a feckless president that this was the only option for withdrawal. This is the product of Joe Biden's catastrophic failure of leadership."

Blackburn said that in addition to Biden, Kamala Harris, Sec. of State Antony Blinken, Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley should all resign or face impeachment and removal from office.

These lawmakers join some in the US House who are demanding that Biden be held accountable for the withdrawal, that has seen the deaths of 13 servicemen and dozens of civilians.

The withdrawal was promised by the Trump administration to be completed by May 1, but the Biden administration decided to prolong that withdrawal until September 11, before walking it back to August 31.

After many were evacuated, the Commander-in-chief sent in an additional 6,000 American troops to facilitate the removal of people and equipment from the nation, which is now in Taliban control.

A suicide attack was committed on Thursday by ISIS-K, a terrorist group that opposes the Taliban, that killed 13 US servicemen. Biden has said that the deadline for withdrawal would not be extended.

Biden spoke that evening to what he saw as the two options facing him on Afghanistan: either renegotiating an evacuation date, after President Trump had promised the US would be out by May 1, or staying in the country.

Biden told reporters: "look at it this way, folks... imagine where we'd be if I had indicated, on May the 1st, I was not going to renegotiate an evacuation date; we were going to stay there."

He then laid out that option: "I'd have only one alternative: Pour thousands of more troops back into Afghanistan to fight a war that we had already won, relative — is why the reason we went in the first place."