Biden mocks resurgence of Al Qaeda on 9/11 anniversary, gets booed at memorial: 'Terrible!'



President Joe Biden mocked the resurgence of Al Qaeda on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on Saturday after earlier in the day being booed while visiting the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center.

What did Biden say?

While speaking with reporters at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania — the location where 44 Americans lost their lives after thwarting hijackers' plans to fly United Flight 93 into the White House or U.S. Capitol building — Biden admitted that Al Qaeda could "come back."

"If you would have told anybody that we were going to spend $300 million bucks a day for 20 years to try to unite the country after we got [Osama] bin Laden, after Al Qaeda was wiped out there— can Al Qaeda come back? Yeah," Biden said.

"But guess what? It's already back in other places," he continued, lowering his voice to a mocking tone. "What's the strategy? Every place where Al Qaeda is, we're going to invade and have troops stay in? Come on."

.@POTUS at #Flight93 Memorial: "What's the strategy? Every place where al-Qaeda is we're going to invade and have t… https://t.co/lp29iQ9Vd1
— CSPAN (@cspan) 1631389682.0

Biden's admission contradicted what he said just weeks ago. In defending the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, Biden described the mission there as a success.

"What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point with al Qaeda gone? We went to Afghanistan for the express purpose of getting rid of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, as well as getting Osama bin Laden. And we did," Biden said on Aug. 20. "We went and did the mission."

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby later contradicted Biden.

"We know that al Qaeda is a presence, as well as ISIS, in Afghanistan, and we've talked about that for quite some time," he said.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin admitted Thursday that Al Qaeda could make resurgence in Afghanistan, and the Biden administration is merely employing a "wait and see" approach.

"I think the whole community is kind of watching to see what happens and whether or not Al Qaeda has the ability to regenerate in Afghanistan," Austin said. "The nature of al Qaeda and ISIS-K is that, you know, they will always attempt to find space to grow and regenerate, whether it's there, whether it's in Somalia, whether it's in any other ungoverned space."

When was Biden booed?

While walking with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City, Biden stopped to speak with a nearby person.

That's when the crowd of people began booing.

"You're a mug for what you did to Afghanistan," one man yelled. "Terrible! Terrible!"

Another person yelled, "Don't sniff 'em."

@justinbuffamante Look at the caln I ran into 🤣 #joebiden #barrackobama #hilaryclinton #billclinton #afghanistan #repost #bidensamut

VP Harris slated for 'one-on-one' with Bill Clinton to discuss 'empowering women and girls'



Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to sit down with former President Bill Clinton for a "one-on-one conversation" at a Clinton Foundation event this week, where the two will discuss "empowering women and girls."

What are the details?

Politico reporter Christopher Cadelago broke the news on Twitter, sharing that a press release touting an event for the Clinton Global Initiative University has on its Friday afternoon schedule "[a] one-one-one conversation with President Clinton and Vice President Kamala Harris on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women, and empowering women and girls in the U.S. and around the world."

More here on the event, which is being held in partnership with Harris’ alma mater, Howard https://t.co/fL6UHa0GCx
— Christopher Cadelago (@Christopher Cadelago)1616540252.0

The online schedule for the event held in conjunction with Harris' alma mater, Howard University, does not list her.

How are people reacting?

Twitter users had a field day with the news. Most expressed that it is laughable to ask Clinton's authority on the topic of empowering women and girls, given his famous philandering, numerous accusations of sexual assault, and close previous relationship with the late convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.

One person joked that "Monica Lewinsky and Ghislane Maxwell will be calling in via zoom" for the panel. Someone else joked that next on the schedule would be "Harvey Weinstein discussing women in the workplace," and another said it would be "followed by Anthony Weiner to discuss youth outreach." Yet another suggested, "Refreshments to be supplied by the Cosby foundation."

Others were outraged by the decision, with one follower tweeting, "This is sickening. @BillClinton used the totality of his time in public office using power to procure sex from young women at the start of their careers & burying them, he is credibly accused of forceful rape AND sexual assault. Shame on @KamalaHarris. @VP should cancel this." Someone else added, "Tell @VP and Billy boy this is beyond tone-deaf. It's an insult."

One person commented that agreeing to the event was a bad call on the part of Harris' people, writing, "Can't believe whoever booked this for Kamy didn't pause just a SECOND and say........Should we really have Bill discussing this with the VP? Maybe they will fly Monica in to be in the audience for the open question portion of the program."