Yesterday, the United States inexplicably pulled out of Afghanistan with time left on the clock, leaving the war-torn country a day early even as Americans remained trapped behind enemy lines. Though Joe Biden had previously insisted we would stay until the last American was rescued, that promise has now been officially broken, adding to the laundry list of failures that have left the embattled administration’s credibility smoldering.

Yet, amidst a sea of untruths, one exchange continues to stand out as perhaps the defining moment for the Biden administration during this entire, tragic ordeal. That would be when Jen Psaki snarkily dismissed the notion that Americans were stranded in Afghanistan after being pressed on the matter by Fox News’ Peter Doocy.

.@PressSec: “I think it's irresponsible to say ‘Americans are stranded.’ They are not” pic.twitter.com/gWSyuuURmg https://t.co/PRmwxu9fSs

— Jack Pandol (@jackpandol) August 30, 2021

The disconnect from reality combined with the abject arrogance was shocking at the time. Wide-spread reports were already circulating that Americans could not get to the airport and that the Taliban were abusing those who tried. Despite that, Psaki, ever ready to repeat the company line, tried to shame Doocy for daring to ask what would be done to help, obfuscating from the question to argue semantics in Bill Clinton-esque fashion. It was a gross, offensive spectacle, and it’s one that now has Psaki playing the fool following an appearance on MSNBC this morning.

The Pentagon via John Kirby is now admitting that Americans are indeed stranded in Afghanistan with no way out except to hopefully negotiate with the Taliban. Astonishing, in making that damning admission, Kirby attempted to paint it as business as usual.

Here’s your fair warning that the chutzpah on display is something to behold.

Pentagon Spokesman, today: “We have Americans that get stranded in countries all the time”

Jen Psaki, August 23: "I think it's irresponsible to say Americans are stranded. They are not." pic.twitter.com/syyDJT9P6N

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 31, 2021

If you are keeping score, over the span of just a week, we’ve gone from Psaki angrily dismissing the notion that Americans are stranded to the Pentagon saying that it’s fine they are stranded because Americans are stranded all the time. And though they will try, no amount of semantic gamesmanship can excuse the massive contradiction on this issue emanating from the administration.

So what’s the plan now that Psaki’s claims have been thoroughly debunked by her own colleagues? There doesn’t appear to be much of a plan. Rather, we’ve written a strongly worded letter to the Taliban in the hopes they’ll operate as something other than the radical fundamentalists they are. I can translate that effort for you: we are going to try to bribe them to get the remaining Americans out of harm’s way. Good luck with that.

The situation never should have gotten here. We had the opportunity, handed to us by the Taliban, to secure Kabul and execute a safe, orderly evacuation. Instead, we let terrorists handle security, leading to the deaths of 13 American soldiers, and in the end, we didn’t even accomplish the mission at hand. Americans were left behind, and that’s a failure the Biden administration can’t run from.