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Joe Biden breaks down while speaking on Kabul blasts, Trump Jr calls it 'weakness'

Joe Biden took questions from Fox News' Peter Doocy and accepted responsibility for the way things unfolded in Afghanistan

A photo of President Joe Biden at the White House Thursday, August 26, has gone viral. Biden can be seen putting his head into his hands while speaking to the press about the ongoing situation in Afghanistan. A Daily Mail headline even noted, “President adopts fetal position as he crumbles.”

Biden held the press briefing to discuss the recent bombings at Kabul airport that resulted in the death of 13 US service members and wounding more than a dozen others. The president said that “we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay.”

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When Biden took questions from the press, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked if he accepted responsibility for the way things unfolded in Afghanistan in the last two weeks as the Taliban took control. Doocy said that “there had not been a US service member killed in combat in Afghanistan since February of 2020. You set the deadline, you pulled troops out, you sent troops back in, and now 12 Marines are dead. You said the buck stops with you. Do you bear any responsibility for the way that things have unfolded in the last two weeks?”

“I bear responsibility for fundamentally all that’s happened of late,” Biden answered. He then moved on to former President Donald Trump’s role in striking a deal with the Taliban that set a deadline of May 1 for American forces to leave the country. “In return… he was given a commitment that the Taliban would continue to attack others but would not attack any American forces,” the president said. “Remember that?”

Doocy, however, continued to press him on whether he stood by his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. Doocy said, “Do you think the people have an issue with the way things have happened?” At one point, Biden, unable to continue to spar with the reporter, shut down, put his head on his hands, and closed his eyes. He could be seen gripping the top of his notebook in apparent frustration. He lifted his head, took a breath to compose himself, and answered.

“I think they have an issue that people are likely to get hurt,” Biden said. “Some as we've seen have gotten killed, and that it is messy. The reason why, whether my friend will acknowledge it or has reported it, the reason why there were no attacks on Americans as you said from the day I came into office was because a commitment was made by President Trump: I will be out by May 1. In the meantime, you agree not to attack any Americans. That was the deal. That's why no American was attacked.”

“So you squarely stand by your decision to pull out,” Doocy asked. Biden said, “Yes, I do. Because look at it this way folks, and I have another meeting for real. But imagine where we'd be if I had indicated on May the first that I was not going to renegotiate an evacuation date. We were going to stay there. I'd have only one alternative: To pour thousands of troops back into Afghanistan to fight a war that we had already won relative to the reason why we went in the first place.”

He continued, “I have never been of the view that we should be sacrificing American lives to try to establish a democratic government in Afghanistan, a country that has never once in its entire history been a united country. And is made up of different tribes who have never ever ever got along with one another. So as I said before, and this is the last comment I'll make, we'll have a chance to talk about this unfortunately beyond because we are not out yet… I know it's not fair to ask you questions. It's rhetorical. But raise your hand if you think we should have gone and given up thousands of lives and tens of thousands of wounded… Ladies and gentlemen, it was time to end a 20-year war.”

While Biden seemed content with his answer, his momentary frustration went viral. Donald Trump Jr tweeted the photo saying, “This is what weakness looks like.” One tweet about the photo read, “Biden’s body language when ⁦⁦@pdoocy⁩ asks him a question. Unbelievable.” Another person noted, “@pdoocy⁩ broke Biden. #Afghanistan.” One tweet called the moment “A defining image.” And another questioned, “It’s time for Biden to resign?”