Zeldin calls on Biden to resign in the wake of Afghanistan attack

New York gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) on Friday called on President Biden to resign in the wake of Thursday’s terror attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport that killed 13 U.S. service members, adding that he thinks that the president has a “shadow Cabinet.”

“There needs to be a heck of a lot of accountability, and I really don’t believe that this president can stay in this position,” Zeldin told Rita Cosby on WABC Radio. “I believe that he should resign.” 

“That’s my opinion,” he continued. “I don’t think he’s up to the job and I believe that the worst is to come because all of these other nations are watching what’s going on and they’re seeing this vulnerability.” 

The New York Republican went on to hit Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

“The one thing that I’m suspecting here and other people feel the same way, is that the president has a Cabinet, but it seems like he has a shadow Cabinet, too,” Zeldin said. “Because you get information from a secretary of Defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs and others, and it’s not jiving with what the president’s decision is.” 

“Somewhere inside of that building, there is a cabal of people who are giving this president some really bad advice,” he said. “I don’t see how Secretary Blinken can stay on as a secretary of State.”

Zeldin is the latest Republican to call on the president to resign in the wake of the attack. GOP Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) joined a number of House GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Byron Donalds (Fla.), House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) and Rep. Jim Banks (Ind.), in calling on Biden to resign. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in an interview on Tuesday, prior to the attack, that Biden should be impeached. 

Thursday’s deadly attack in Kabul took the lives of more than a dozen U.S. service members and at least 90 Afghans. ISIS-K, an affiliate of the Islamic State that operates out of South and Central Asia, claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as the U.S. was working to evacuate thousands of Afghans ahead of the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline. 

Biden said on Thursday that the attack would not alter the evacuation mission in Afghanistan, but vowed to take swift action against ISIS-K. 

“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden said at the White House on Thursday.