How close are we to getting all Americans out of Afghanistan? It doesn’t depend on whom you ask, but on when you ask. After more than a week of playing coy with the numbers, the Biden administration finally got specific — but just as incompetent, as Allahpundit noted in the previous post.

But perhaps Joe Biden has better things to do than worry about the safety of American citizens. When NBC News’ Peter Alexander asked the president about his plans if Americans can’t get out by Biden’s deadline, Biden offered a sarcastic and dismissive retort:

I asked President Biden what he will do if Americans are still in Afghanistan after the 8/31 deadline.
His response: “You’ll be the first person I call.”
Took no questions. pic.twitter.com/MlyFIayrMZ

— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) August 25, 2021

This got caught on camera, but someone smarter than Biden at the White House cut the audio feed before it captured Biden’s smirking response (via Twitchy):

REPORTER: “If Americans are still in Afghanistan after the deadline what will you do?”

BIDEN: *smirks*

*White House cuts audio feed* pic.twitter.com/k0SGWhpXm6

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 25, 2021

Sorry to bother you, Mr. President, but your withdrawal did leave several thousand Americans behind Taliban lines. Maybe you’d like to address the inevitability that some of them will be left behind when you order the military to leave? I mean, if that question even interests you at all?

This is a useful reminder that Joe Biden’s reputation for compassion is almost entirely media mythmaking. We’ve actually had several glimpses of Biden’s cold-heartedness in the past fortnight of this disaster in Afghanistan. His first speech on the subject featured Biden derisively dismissing the Afghans who partnered with us for the past twenty years, an insult that still rankles the military personnel who worked with them. In his interview with George Stephanopoulos, Biden got annoyed with the question of refugees so desperate that they chose death by clinging to planes, with Biden exploding, “That was four days ago, five days ago!”

Joe Biden dismisses concerns over images and videos of Afghans falling thousands of feet to their deaths trying to escape Taliban rule in Afghanistan:

“That was four days ago, five days ago.” pic.twitter.com/AIDFvGZMb4

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 18, 2021

Actually, at that moment, it had only been two days since those people fell to their deaths. Prediction: By the time September 11 rolls around, Biden will get asked about Americans and allies being left behind as our military retreats from Kabul, and his response will be, “That was two weeks ago! Come on, man!”

By the way, those Americans don’t actually have until the 31st. The last flights will have to carry the military and their materiel out, so anyone wanting out of Kabul will have to get on a plane no later than Friday. That gives at least 1500 Americans — according to Blinken — less than 48 hours to get to the airport. What will Joe Biden do on Saturday? He probably won’t be calling Peter Alexander.

By the way, even those numbers from Blinken are, um … not solid. Olivier Knox points out that those count only the Americans who have been able to make contact with the State Department.

(But this is based on "contacts." Blinken says they may not have reached everyone. Says the number rises and falls. It's unclear to me what the US govt estimate is for number of Americans still in Afghanistan and wanting to leave.)

— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) August 25, 2021

It’s unclear to Olivier Knox, it’s unclear to everyone listening or watching the briefing — and it’s clearly unclear to the Biden administration. The only thing clear is that Biden doesn’t give a damn about it.

Addendum: The State Department estimate of 1500 Americans only covers citizens — not legal American residents:

About 1,500 American citizens remain in Afghanistan, and about a third of them are in contact with the U.S. government and hope to leave in the coming days, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Wednesday.

Some of the remaining 1,000 may not want to leave, Mr. Blinken said, describing an ever-changing estimate that the Biden administration has grappled to pin down as American troops wind down an evacuation effort that has overwhelmed the airport in Kabul, the capital.

That number does not include legal permanent American residents, or green card holders, he said.

So we’re not willing to stick around to ensure we evacuate every legal US resident from a place like Afghanistan, but we’re willing to welcome and house illegal immigrants in the southern border states?

And I’d loooove an explanation of a class of American citizens in Afghanistan who want to stick around for Taliban rule.