Lindsey Graham threatens Biden with impeachment over Afghanistan

President will have committed a ‘high crime and misdemeanor’ if any Americans or Afghan allies are left behind, top Trump ally says

Senator Lindsey Graham claimed Joe Biden should be impeached if any Americans or Afghan allies are left behind in the US withdrawal.

Mr Graham said the US was “duty-bound” to evacuate every US citizen and “honour-bound” to do likewise for the Afghan interpreters and contractors who aided the American occupation.

“If we leave one American behind. If we don’t get all those Afghans who stepped up to the plate to help us out then Joe Biden, in my view, has committed a high crime and misdemeanor under the Constitution and should be impeached,” the Republican Senator from South Carolina told Fox & Friends on Friday.

If we leave any Americans behind, or if we leave thousands of Afghans who fought bravely alongside us behind, President Joe Biden deserves to be impeached for a High Crime and Misdemeanor of Dereliction of Duty.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) August 20, 2021

The chaotic US withdrawal from its 20-year occupation of Afghanistan in the face of a Taliban onslaught is being described as a humanitarian disaster.

Scenes at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Friday showed Afghans on the perimeter trying to pass their babies over razor wire to US troops in order for them to be rescued.

President Biden was due to address the deteriorating security situation at 1pm on Friday afternoon ET.

The Biden administration’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has committed to evacuating the estimated 6,000 US citizens remaining in the country.

CNN’s chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward reported on Friday morning that she had not seen a single flight depart Kabul airport in the past eight hours.

Mr Graham said the French and British Governments had made commitments to bring out all of their citizens and allies.

In 2019, Mr Graham criticised the Trump administration for “shamelessly” abandoning the Kurds by withdrawing from Syria, but stopped short of calling for impeachment.