White House Corrects Biden on Number of US Citizens Remaining in Afghanistan

President Joe Biden speaks on ending the war in Afghanistan in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington on Aug. 31, 2021. Brendon Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

The White House on Tuesday corrected President Joe Biden after he said 90 percent of the Americans who were in Afghanistan and wanted to leave were evacuated before U.S. troops left the country on Aug. 30.

Biden, speaking for the first time since the withdrawal, said in remarks from the White House that “The bottom line: Ninety percent of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave.”

In a transcript of the speech, the White House crossed out “Ninety” and added “[Ninety-eight].”

U.S. officials have said that approximately 6,000 Americans were in Afghanistan when the Taliban took over the country in mid-August and that all but 100 to 200 were evacuated before the final U.S. withdrawal.

Biden has defended leaving Americans behind, charging that he was advised to do so by top advisers like Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The Pentagon has said it provided Biden options and is not in charge of policy.

Biden on Tuesday also used the wrong name for the operation to rescue Americans, Afghans, and others from Afghanistan.

He called it Operation Allied Rescue. It was Operation Allies Refuge.