Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty called for transparency from ABC News, demanding they release the full conversation between President Joe Biden and interviewer George Stephanopoulos.
On Thursday’s episode of “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” host Hugh Hewitt noted that “ABC has an unedited tape” and released a transcript of the edited interview but that he didn’t think that was enough to placate the American people’s doubts about Biden’s ability to govern.
“Long ago, Richard Nixon offered a transcript of the Watergate tapes to John Stennis. That was immediately and roundly rejected. Does ABC owe the American people an unedited view of the President since we have nothing else?” Hewitt asked.
“Well, I’m certain the American public would prefer this. And I think that your raising it, talking about it right now, is a great way to put pressure on the situation, to actually see the raw footage,” Hagerty said.
Hagerty said he has “doubts” that Biden is fit to address this unfolding situation after he ignored it for days. He continued:
This has created doubt not only in my mind, in the mind of many, many Americans, but also doubt in the minds of our allies. It has been just shocking to see the president’s lack of attention to this, his unwillingness to address it. The fact that he’s tried to spin and deflect rather than accept responsibility, own it, and fix it, it’s just been shocking. And I think the American people are crushed from the standpoint of seeing the reputation of our nation diminished. They’re crushed seeing Americans, American lives now put at risk in the way that they have been put at risk. And the fact that we have just cut and run, so to speak, without any plan in place, is not the America that Tennesseeans expect.
“This has created doubt not only in my mind, in the mind of many, many Americans, but also doubt in the minds of our allies. It has been just shocking to see the @POTUS lack of attention to this, his unwillingness to address it. “ Sen @BillHagertyTN 1
— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) August 19, 2021
Clips of Biden’s shaky exchange with Stephanopoulos received criticism after they circulated on social media Wednesday and Thursday. During one of his only presidential interviews since taking office, Biden deflected blame for his administration’s bothced Afghanistan withdrawal onto intelligence failures and lied saying the chaos was unavoidable.
No way to avoid this chaos? That's a bald-faced lie.
Joe Biden is as dishonest as he is impotent. https://t.co/cCkOs0n8Kb
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) August 18, 2021
He also claimed, “I think the American people are with me.”
