Rep. Peter Meijer
Peter Meijer2 House lawmakers make secret trip to Afghanistan amid evacuations Republican Party breach opens on Afghan refugee resettlement Former Senator Carl Levin dies at age 87 MORE (R-Mich.) He says criticism of his secret trip to Afghanistan this week was “frankly laughable.”
“The approval of the Department of Defense, the White House, the State Department is downright ridiculous,” Meijer said.requesting an interview on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” on Wednesday.
Meijer and Rep. Seth Moulton
Seth Moulton2, House lawmakers, make a secret trip to Afghanistan amid evacuations. The U.S. military is facing growing calls to do more to evacuate Afghanistan. (D-Mass.) He traveled to Afghanistan on Tuesday to see conditions on the ground and push President Biden
Joe BidenUS ‘intellectual report on the origins of COVID-19 is inconclusive: NBC WaPo correspondent: history will remember Afghan retreat as “very dark period” Night defense and national security: cry for deadline Biden in Afghanistan MORE extend the August 31 deadline to withdraw all U.S. forces from the country.
The trip has received widespread criticism not only from the Biden administration, but also from the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
House lawmakers Nancy Pelosi2 make a secret trip to Afghanistan amid evacuations. The House approves the measure of John Lewis’ voting rights. (D-California), leader of the House minority Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthyHouse Approves John Lewis Voting Rights Measure Lawmakers on both sides back to August 31 Biden Press deadline: Why does Mo Brooks continue in the House? MONTH (R-California), grassroots legislators and outside observers.
Democrats were particularly uneasy in their criticism of Moulton, with Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Gregory Meeks
Gregory Weldon Meeks Lawyers on both sides back to August 31 Biden deadline Five takeaway meals from Biden chaos week in Afghanistan Jake Sullivan goes public in the face of the Biden crisis in Afghanistan MORE (DN.Y.) which makes the journey unproductive and self-centered.
“For me, going now is not helping. It’s selfishness. It’s trying to get attention for yourself, and that doesn’t help the people we want to help right now,” Meeks told Capitol Hill reporters.
The two congressmen are currently in Doha, Qatar, Meijer said. At the beginning of the day, they visited Al Udeid air base, where there are refugees.
The Michigan Republican said the trip was supposed to be “completely independent” of the U.S. military.
Meijer said the two did not fly to Afghanistan on a military plane, but flew in a military plane to “encourage the people who were there.” He added that they were waiting for a plane with open seats to make sure they would not be taken away by anyone who needed them.
Meijer said he and Moulton made the trip because they “had to know” what was going on in Kabul.
“We had to know what was happening on the ground in Kabul,” Meijer said. “We didn’t have the information we needed from the administration and we realized they were lying us up and down, and we needed to see for ourselves.”