The White House quietly corrected a blunder that President Biden made during his press conference on Thursday, in which he seemed to confuse the names of Afghanistan’s president Ashraf Ghani and the controversial former Pakistani army chief.
“And General Austin is – he just met Kayani and I’m waiting for instructions on that,” said Biden on Thursday.
But the official transcript of the White House briefing now says “Ghani” instead of Kayani.
General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani left the Pakistani army in 2013. In a retrospective on Kayani’s leadership, The New York Times reported that Kayani was often accused of “betrayal and bad faith”.
President Joe Biden talks about the shooting in Boulder, Colorado, Tuesday, March 23, 2021, in the White House State Dining Room in Washington. (AP Photo / Patrick Semansky)
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But in addition to confusing Ghani with Kayani at the briefing, Biden seemed to question Ghani’s legitimacy as president of Afghanistan.
“He is the – the ‘leader’, quote, in Afghanistan and Kabul. And there is a UN-led process that is starting soon about how to get people mechanically – how to end this war,” said Biden.
That quote was not changed in the official White House transcript.
Ghani won a contested presidential election that took place last year and was sworn in in March. His rival continues to contest the election results, but the US has recognized Ghani as the winner of the election.
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Zalmay Khalilzad – an American diplomat who has served under all presidents since George W. Bush and is at the center of Afghanistan’s peace efforts – and General Austin Miller, along with many other diplomats, attended Ghani’s recent oath, according to the times.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks on the second day of the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, February 15, 2020. (AP Photo / Jens Meyer)
Biden’s press conference on Thursday was the first of his presidency, 65 days after his inauguration.
The president also addressed other issues, from legislative obstruction to electoral reform. The most prominent topic during printing was the situation on the southern border. Biden adamantly defended his actions by reversing Trump’s administration policies by executive order.
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“In the first place, all the policies in progress were not helping at all, they did not decrease the amount of immigration,” said Biden. “Reverse the separation policies of children from mothers? Don’t be sorry for that.”
“Revoking the ‘Stay in Mexico’ policies, sitting on the banks of the Rio Grande in a muddy circumstance without enough to eat? I do not apologize for that,” said Biden. “I do not apologize for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president and that have an incredibly negative impact on the law – international law – as well as on human dignity. Therefore, I do not apologize for that.”
The president also said that he is committed to transparency at the border after his government begins to implement certain actions and said that North Korea is his main foreign policy problem.