Democratic Lawmaker Calls Joe Biden's Afghanistan Exit Deadline a 'Mistake'

President Joe Biden made a "mistake" by setting a deadline for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, said New Jersey Rep. Tom Malinowski.

Biden on Tuesday said he would stick to the August 31 deadline to complete the evacuation of Americans, vulnerable Afghans and others seeking to escape after the Taliban's takeover.

Malinowski, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was an assistant secretary of state under former President Barack Obama, said he viewed the president's remarks as "ambiguous."

"Look, let me just first say, there's no way to keep the president's promise by August 31st," he told CNN anchor Kate Bolduan.

"There's no way that we may be able to take out the American citizens in the Kabul area who want to leave, but Afghans at risk of retribution from the Taliban, Afghans who helped our troops, will not have the opportunity to leave if we leave them."

Malinowski added: "What I heard the president say today after his top national security team heard a unanimous message from Republicans and Democrats in the House on this today was that he wants to leave by August 31st, but whether we do so or not depends on completion of the mission and depends on whether the Taliban cooperate. That is actually a new message from the president."

But Malinowski said the president had made a "mistake" by setting the deadline in the first place because the Taliban had "seized upon it."

"The Taliban, because of the mistake, I think, that we made of setting this artificial self-imposed deadline, they've now seized upon it, as you said, and started blocking Afghans at risk from going to the airport," he said.

"So my interpretation of the president's statement is that he is telling the Taliban, we'd like to leave but if you want us to get out of your hair by August 31st, you have to let these Afghans come to the airport. You cannot impede this. Because if you continue to impede it, then our mission will not be complete and we may stay longer."

Malinowski said he hopes that is what Biden meant, adding that "operationally it means we can't start pulling out massive numbers of Americans from that airport" in Kabul.

"We can't be coming and going at the same time," he said.

Malinowski later took to Twitter to again call on Biden to allow the circumstances to dictate when the evacuation ends.

"For the first time, I heard the president suggest tonight that sticking to our self-imposed August 31 deadline depends on conditions on the ground," he wrote.

"We can keep our deadline or keep our promise. Our mission must determine the timetable, not vice versa."

His office has been contacted for additional comment.