Senator Hints at Something We Weren't Shown in Biden's Disastrous ABC Interview: Play the 'Unedited Tape'

By Taylor Penley August 20, 2021 at 9:58am

In light of the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, many of us are raising questions about President Joe Biden’s ability to continue serving as the leader of the free world.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott and others have gone so far as to discuss invoking the 25th Amendment, under which the president can be removed from his position if he is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

“After the disastrous events in Afghanistan, we must confront a serious question: Is Joe Biden capable of discharging the duties of his office or has time come to exercise the provisions of the 25th Amendment?” Scott said in a Monday tweet after Kabul’s fall to the Taliban the day before.

After the disastrous events in Afghanistan, we must confront a serious question: Is Joe Biden capable of discharging the duties of his office or has time come to exercise the provisions of the 25th Amendment? https://t.co/l1bFrUdZH9

— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) August 16, 2021

But the Afghanistan debacle itself isn’t the only development that’s raising questions about Biden’s mental fitness.

Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee has doubts concerning the president’s ability to lead the country in the wake of his interview with ABC News that aired on Wednesday night.

Hagerty said Thursday on “The Hugh Hewitt Show” that he wants to hear more of Biden’s conversation with George Stephanopoulos — specifically, the unedited tape.

“Long ago, Richard Nixon offered a transcript of the Watergate tapes to John Stennis. That was immediately and roundly rejected. Does ABC owe the American people an unedited view of the president since we have nothing else?” Hewitt asked, according to The Federalist.

Do you think ABC News should release its unedited tape?

“Well, I’m certain the American public would prefer this,” Hagerty responded. “And I think that your raising it, talking about it right now, is a great way to put pressure on the situation, to actually see the raw footage.”

Hewitt, a conservative author and commentator, said ABC News was withholding an unedited tape of Biden’s interview with Stephanopoulos. However, the outlet did provide what it described as a “full transcript” of the conversation.

The transcript shows that the president struggled through much of the interview. At one point, he made two glaring errors about his late son Beau’s military service.

Biden stumbles over which branch of the military his son Beau served and where he was deployed pic.twitter.com/lMbp7obM1m

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) August 19, 2021

No video of that misstep or others had been provided as of Friday morning.

“This has created doubt not only in my mind, in the mind of many, many Americans, but also doubt in the minds of our allies,” Hagerty told Hewitt. “It has been just shocking to see the president’s lack of attention to this, his unwillingness to address it.

“The fact that he’s tried to spin and deflect rather than accept responsibility, own it, and fix it, it’s just been shocking. And I think the American people are crushed from the standpoint of seeing the reputation of our nation diminished. They’re crushed seeing Americans, American lives now put at risk in the way that they have been put at risk.

“And the fact that we have just cut and run, so to speak, without any plan in place, is not the America that Tennesseeans expect.”

“This has created doubt not only in my mind, in the mind of many, many Americans, but also doubt in the minds of our allies. It has been just shocking to see the @POTUS lack of attention to this, his unwillingness to address it. “ Sen @BillHagertyTN 1

— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) August 19, 2021

Hewitt is among many conservatives admonishing Biden for his lack of attention to the crisis in Afghanistan — and among many who are questioning his suitability to continue holding the powers of the presidency.

The ABC interview only adds fuel to the fire — particularly considering that clips that have aired have gone viral and have garnered a lot of criticism across social platforms.

Even in their edited state, Biden’s comments have drawn criticism from left-wing CNN, which noted in a fact check that he had misstated the date on which horrifying images emerged of Afghan citizens falling to their deaths from a departing U.S. military plane.

Biden also claimed that nation-building “never made sense to him” despite his advocacy for it in the past (until 2004, at least), according to the outlet.

In addition, he gave an incorrect number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan (which he later corrected, to be fair) and claimed that the U.S. doesn’t have enough of a military presence to stave off the threat of terrorism in Syria (which CNN said “is either plainly incorrect or, at least, missing important context”).

As bad as that was, you have to wonder what might be learned from the full, unedited video. Don’t we deserve to hear our president’s unfiltered responses to a disastrous development that has turned the U.S. into a worldwide spectacle?

Among those on the right, the consensus seems to be “yes.”

But don’t hold your breath waiting for ABC News to release the unedited video.

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