An anchor on the conservative news network Newsmax abruptly cut off an interview with an Iraq War veteran, who has been assisting with evacuation efforts of Americans and Afghan allies, after the guest criticized former President Trump’s role in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Anchor Grant Stinchfield first pushed back at guest Joe Saboe, the veteran, by pointing out that the U.S. failure to evacuate all Americans and allies from Afghanistan didn’t happen under Trump’s administration. Stinchfield complained that “people on the left” just want to find another reason to blame Trump.
“He wanted out of Afghanistan real bad, he was real frustrated not being able to get out, but he didn’t pull out because he knew this would happen,” Stinchfield said, with an increasingly irate tone. “In fact, we all did, I called it on this program.”
Stinchfield then characterized the issue of Americans stranded in Afghanistan as a “hostage situation” before Saboe doubled down on his criticism of the Trump administration, pointing out that veterans have been monitoring the war in Afghanistan closely across multiple administrations.
“We know the Trump administration’s efforts here were fairly weak, that they were trying to limit the number of people that would get out so there was coordination problems for a long time,” Saboe said.
Stinchfield raised his voice while demanding that Saboe get cut off on air.
“Joe, I’m gonna cut you, I’m already weak, I’m already low on time. Cut him off. Cut him off now!” Stinchfield shouted. “You’re not going to blame this on President Trump on my show! That’s not happening!”
Stinchfield went on to accuse Saboe of adopting “talking points of the left” because Saboe was critical of the Trump administration’s handling of the situation.
“The Biden administration screwed this up from the very start, you know it, I know it, the country knows it,” an angry Stinchfield said.
In recent weeks, Trump allies have criticized Biden for pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and ending the 20-year war, claiming that it’ll set the stage for another 9/11-style attack. Despite Trump allies’ praise for the former president’s handling of Afghanistan, it was actually Trump who cut the deal with the Taliban for U.S. withdrawal and set the deadline for removal.
Watch the heated segment below:
BREAKING: A Newsmax anchor just blew up and angrily cut off an American veteran who is helping to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies for pointing out that Trump is responsible for much of the problem. (h/t @JasonSCampbell) pic.twitter.com/fFfQ7MJlVW
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) September 16, 2021
