In his attempt to justify his Afghanistan debacle, Joe Biden claimed that al-Qaida had been eliminated from the country, which left no reason to sustain a U.S. military presence. “Look, let’s put this thing in perspective here,” Biden asserted. “What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point with al-Qaida gone? We went to Afghanistan for the express purpose of getting rid of al-Qaida in Afghanistan, as well as … getting Osama bin Laden. And we did.” What, him worry?

One big problem: Al-Qaida still has a presence in Afghanistan. In fact, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was forced to offer a correction of sorts. Asked about the president’s comment, he answered, “Al-Qaida’s capacity to do what it did on 9/11 — to attack us, to attack our partners or allies from Afghanistan — is vastly, vastly diminished.” When pressed again to say if al-Qaida is really gone, Blinken responded, “Are there al-Qaida members and remnants in Afghanistan? Yes.” Then he sought to do damage control on yet another Biden lie, arguing, “What the president was referring to was its capacity to do what it did on 9/11. And that capacity has been very successfully diminished.” Would that be diminished like the Taliban, which was supposedly highly unlikely to take over Afghanistan?

But the false claim that al-Qaida no longer exists in Afghanistan was merely one of several deceptive statements Biden has made as the fallout from his failed exit strategy continues. Biden also claimed: “The Taliban has not taken action against U.S. forces. So far, they have, by and large, followed through what they said, in terms of allowing Americans to pass through, and the like.” And yet Biden hedged: “And I’m sure they don’t control all of their forces. It’s a ragtag force. And so, we’ll see. We’ll see whether or not what they say turns out to be true.” Well, reports have been coming out that Taliban fighters have indeed impeded U.S. troops attempting to evacuate Americans, including firefights around the Kabul airport.

Biden then amazingly declared, “My job is to make judgments. My job is to make judgments no one else can or will make. I made them.” And what are these judgments? Well, apparently they include trusting the Taliban to do the right thing. “Look, the Taliban has a — the Taliban has to make a fundamental decision: Is the Taliban going to attempt to be able to unite and provide for the wellbeing of the people of Afghanistan, which no one group has ever done since before — for hundreds of years. And if it does, it’s going to need everything from additional help, in terms of economic assistance, trades, and a whole range of things.” Is Biden seriously suggesting the U.S. and the rest of the world give a terrorist organization the status of a legitimate state authority? This is his “judgment”?

Clearly, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin doesn’t share his boss’s Taliban optimism. First, Austin was forced to correct the record when asked if people seeking to flee have faced Taliban opposition. He admitted that they have had “tough encounters,” which is putting it unbelievably mildly. When asked if Taliban actors were allowing Americans to get through to the Kabul airport, he responded, “If you have an American passport, and if you have the right credentials, the Taliban has been allowing people to pass safely through.” However, when Austin was pushed on whether all Americans are getting through unmolested, he hedged: “There’s no such thing as an absolute. And this kind of environment, as you would imagine … there have been incidents of people having some tough encounters with Taliban.”

What about Vice President Kamala Harris, the calm and steady hand who’s ready to take over at a moment’s notice? “What’s your response to reports of Americans—” stuck in Afghanistan, a reporter began before being cut off by a Harris. The VP — wait for it — laughed before deflecting and filibustering.

As Biden’s utter incompetency is being exposed nearly every time he opens his mouth, his administration handlers are being forced to correct the record as they run damage control. Their puppet is broken and it’s getting harder and harder to hide their own incompetency behind his.