The White House gave Newsmax a hint Tuesday that it would just as soon not have to welcome former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani to exile in the United States.
At a briefing for White House reporters a day after President Biden’s televised address on the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, we asked National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan whether Ghani has requested asylum in the U.S. and whether he and other officials of the just-deposed government in Kabul would be welcomed.
“I’m not aware of any such request,” Sullivan replied without hesitation, “And I’m not going to get into any hypotheticals.”
Sullivan’s terse reply evoked interest because Ghani not only lived in the U.S. from 1983-91, but was actually a U.S. citizen. During those years, he taught economics at Berkeley in California and Johns Hopkins University, and later worked at the World Bank.
Following 9/11, he abandoned his U.S. citizenship to return home to Afghanistan and launch a political career.
At the same briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked if President Biden had been in touch with Ghani since he left the presidency.
“Not to my knowledge,” she said.
On August 15, Ghani fled Kabul and, according to several reports, arrived in Tajikistan. Subsequent reports said he has since left for another country but his destination was unknown.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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