Ric Grenell: Washington politics 'has literally killed Americans'
Former acting director of national intelligence calls on America to change Washington on 'FOX News Primetime'
Former Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell claimed Thursday the self-preservationist politics of the federal bureaucracy is directly at fault for the deaths of Americans.
Grenell told "Fox News Primetime" the news of President Biden's reported July phone call with then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in which he thought would "change perception", as well as the upbeat messaging from the Pentagon on the conclusion of the war there is dangerous and insulting to Americans.
"I am not surprised that Washington, D.C. is lying to us again. Unfortunately, Tammy, we have a situation where Washington, D.C.'s politics has literally killed Americans. And while this can go on in Washington and those in Washington can paper it over and try to spin that they got 90% of Americans out of Afghanistan. The rest of us outside of Washington are saying ‘we have never seen a situation where Washington, D.C. politicians are proud of 90%’," he said.
"What we hear, what the rest of us hear is that 'you left 10% of the people in Afghanistan and you're trying to spin this'. I really never thought that I would see this moment come."
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Grenell, who served under President Donald Trump, said a clear sign of this troubling dynamic is that U.S. intelligence officers are now "leaking [to the press] against Democrats" – remarking that the intel bureaucracy usually leaks exclusively to the detriment of Republican administrations.
"I don't like when intelligence officers do but they did it constantly against President Trump now they are doing it against Joe Biden. I think what we have now, Tammy, is, it's less of Republican vs. Democrat right now as fighting and it's Washington vs. The Rest of America."
Grenell, who also served as U.S. Ambassador to Germany, said that every great civilization lasts an average of 250 years and that the United States is right in that ballpark at the moment.
"This has happened to us so many times, we Americans, we have got to stop apologizing. We have got to stop pretending like Washington, D.C. Is ever going to change itself. It's not. It's not changing itself. We have to get involved," he said.
"Ronald Reagan told every generation you have got to fight for your freedom. And I think everybody listening to us tonight has got to rise up. They have got to realize Washington isn't changing. You have got to change Washington."
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