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ABC is being accused of editing portions of its interview with President Joe Biden about his Afghanistan disaster, in which he made false claims about his son Beau.
In the full transcript of the interview, which was conducted by George Stephanopoulos and aired on Wednesday, Biden erroneously said that his late son Beau served in Iraq with the Navy instead of the Army. Biden also falsely claimed Beau served in Afghanistan.
Those claims about his son Beau were not aired at the time of the broadcast.
When asked to respond to a veteran who indicated “we have to cut our losses in Afghanistan, I just wish we could’ve left with honor.” Biden said, “Look, that’s like askin’ my deceased son Beau, who spent six months in Kosovo and a year in Iraq as a Navy captain and then major—I mean, as an Army major. And, you know, I’m sure h– he had regrets comin’ out of Afganista—I mean, out of Iraq.”
The president continued hesitantly, “He had regrets to what’s– how– how it’s going. But the idea– what’s the alternative? The alternative is why are we staying in Afghanistan? Why are we there? Don’t you think that the one– you know who’s most disappointed in us getting out? Russia and China.”
Beau was deployed to Iraq for a year in 2009 with the U.S. Army Delaware National Guard.
Some Republicans are now demanding that ABC release the full interview, after Tucker Carlson pointed out the situation on his show.
“Now, television networks edit interviews very often for time,” Carlson said on his show Thursday. “But ABC News appears to edit out portions that made Joe Biden look non-Presidential, incoherent, confused.”
“ABC should release the tape now! American lives are at stake. America deserves to know if their Commander in Chief is up for the job,” said Rep. Jim Banks.
Banks insisted: “Release the entire tape, @abc!”
Journalist Michael Tracey said it “seems suspicious that ABC has only released a small fragment of video from this incredibly garbled transcript.”
