U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) on Saturday faulted U.S. President Joe Biden for a lack of accountability on Afghanistan and for hurting America’s relationship with its political allies.
Hagerty made these remarks to anchorman Jon Scott on FOX News.
“What we’ve seen in our allies is the Dutch Foreign Minister stepped down this week. The same for the British Foreign Minister, both have stepped down, they’ve stepped down over their role or their lack of accountability for Afghanistan. They’ve stepped up and taken responsibility,” Hagerty said.
“A big part of leadership, Jon, is owning the problem, yet, the only accountability that we’ve seen from the Biden Administration thus far has been one lone Lieutenant Colonel who actually called for accountability. He’s been dismissed. He’s been relieved of his duties, but we see no senior leadership in the Biden Administration step up and take responsibility. At the end of the day, this is at the feet of the Commander-in-Chief, who by the way, is on vacation this weekend.”
Hagerty also told Scott that people need a strong America.
“It’s similar to what I heard when I went to visit NATO just about two weeks ago, the same as when I went to the UK. The whole Biden Administration approach is actually taking us away from our allies. It’s crumbling our cooperation with our allies. NATO is extraordinarily concerned that they can’t rely on us anymore,” Hagerty said.
“As a nation, the world needs a strong America. We can’t be leading from behind again. And that’s exactly what they’re seeing. I think they regret comments like President Macron made. America is not back in the way that we need to be back. America is stronger and safer when we lead from the front. That was the case in the prior administration, and we’re seeing a complete reversal of that trend right now.”
Earlier this month, Hagerty criticized Biden for his new COVID-19 vaccination mandates.
Biden said that, in order to work, all employees of private employers with 100 or more employees must take the COVID-19 vaccination or subject themselves to an at-least-weekly COVID testing.
“I visited with my doctor and made the personal choice to get the vaccine—a product of President Trump’s miraculous Operation Warp Speed—and I have continually encouraged others to do the same. But this should be a personal decision for each Tennessean, in consultation with his or her doctor, not a top-down order from the federal government. This latest unlawful command by President Biden, which he vowed he would not order, improperly puts the federal government between Tennesseans and their physicians,” Hagerty said at the time.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Sen. Bill Hagerty” by FOX News.
