Retired Navy admiral and Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson told Newsmax on Friday that at least seven of his constituents are being held in Afghanistan, calling them hostages unable to leave the country until the Biden administration recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate government of the country.
''They've already been manifested on flights,'' Jackson, a Republican, said on ''Greg Kelly Reports.'' ''The airplanes are there. Everything is ready to go. They can't get out, and the reason they can't get out is because the Taliban won't release the flight until Sept. 9 because they want to be recognized as an official government.
''They want to be officially recognized as a legitimate government. ... And I guarantee you these hostages, they're hostages right now, are being held until the American, until the United States, until the Biden administration recognizes the Taliban as a government.''
Jackson, 54, who was the personal physician to Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump before being elected from Texas' 13th Congressional District in the northernmost part of the state in 2020, appeared on Newsmax with Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y.
He criticized President Joe Biden for his withdrawal from Afghanistan, which he blamed for stranding U.S. citizens despite calling the mission a success.
''This is not going to be the first nor the last lie that we've heard from the Biden administration,'' Jackson said. ''This entire thing is just a web of lies. We're working today. We still, both of us, we still have people over there. I have American citizens, citizens, at least seven of them, probably more from my district right now, that are trapped over there right now.
''They cannot get out. And you know what we were told? We were told today, I was told, that the State Department has some of them, and I won't say where, that are [in] pretty big danger.''
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