JOE BIDEN is facing an intense amount of criticism in the wake of the crisis in Afghanistan.
The President has faced condemnation from all sides not only for his decision to pull US troops out of the region - allowing the Taliban to sweep in relatively unopposed - but also for his response to the situation.
On Monday, more than 24 hours after the Taliban took over the Afghan capital of Kabul, Biden addressed reporters in the States and defended his decision to withdraw.
But after trying to pin the blame on former President Donald Trump - who admittedly signed off on the initial deal to pull troops from the country - and skirting round the notion that a number of his advisers warned him of this exact predicament, members of the media from all corners have called on Biden to "take responsibility".
In an attempt to quell some of the criticism, Biden sat down for an interview with ABC's George Stephanopolous on Wednesday, and claimed that the "chaos" in Afghanistan was "inevitable", which understandably irked people who, for much of the last few weeks, had heard Biden telling them the exact opposite.
"The idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens," Biden said.
Although, six weeks ago during a White House briefing, he said that a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was "not inevitable", adding that the likelihood of the militant Islamic group overrunning everything was very low.
The 78-year-old has also denied reports that a number of his advisers warned him of the impending Taliban threat in the event the US military withdraw from Afghanistan, but even if that were true, critics have also hit out at the President for a distinct lack of urgency in his response.
Ultimately, this is the biggest test of Biden's presidency so far, and he's hasn't exactly started it smelling of roses.
