‘It’s easy to play a backseat’: Psaki clashes with journalist over Afghanistan question

Jen Psaki clashed with a reporter on Friday, as the US government continues to face criticism over its response to the Afghan crisis. Speaking to the New York Times’ Michael Shear, the press secretary said that if America had brought in 6,000 troops to evacuate people in May, “the threat on US forces would have increased at that point in time”.

After Shear pointed out the Taliban had not taken Kabul then, Psaki replied: “I think it’s easy to play a backseat ... No one anticipated ... that the Afghan government would have fallen at the pace they fell.”