McHenry Times

Former Illinois state Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-West Dundee) wants to know everything President Joe Biden talked about with then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani after excerpts from a July phone call reveal he appeared to urge him to push the “perception” of stability in the region.

“Release the full transcript of Biden’s call,” Skillicorn posted on Twitter.

According to Reuters, who received a leaked transcript of the call, the call took place around the same time Biden was ordering a withdrawal of troops from the region.

"I need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban," Biden said on the call. "And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture."

Biden pressed on during the call, despite Ghani warning, "Mr. President, we are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis thrown into this, so that dimension needs to be taken account of."

Critics have accused Biden of knowingly misleading the nation while promising a "safe and orderly" exit out of Afghanistan.

Fox News has pointed out that “all of the major networks, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NBC, have largely avoided mentioning the controversial phone call.”

Still others have compared the conversation to the 2019 phone call between former President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, where the Ukrainian president was urged to investigate Biden and his son Hunter. The call ultimately led to Trump's second impeachment.

With the U.S.’ military withdrawal from the region, hundreds of Americans and Afghan allies are reportedly left stranded there.

According to Fox, in one of the few instances where the story has been covered on MSNBC, host Chris Hayes sought to defend the president and his actions.

"Telling the failing Afghan government to ‘fake it till you make it’ as a means of extending its reign as long as possible is a sad statement on cumulative U.S. failures in Afghanistan but not a scandal any more than the war itself was," he said.

When directly questioned about the phone call, White House press secretary Jen Psaki sought to dodge the subject altogether.

"I'm not going to get into private, diplomatic conversations or leaked transcripts of phone calls," she said.