Congresswoman Jackie Walorski reacts to explosions in Kabul, calls situation a 'disgrace'

On Thursday morning, Kabul Airport was rocked by two explosions, which U.S. officials believe to be suicide bombs. 

Just moments after the first explosion around 10:30 a.m. local time, ABC57 sat down with 2nd District Republican Congresswoman Jackie Walorski for an exclusive interview. 

Congresswoman Walorski spoke about the continuously deteriorating situation in Kabul. She told investigate reporter Richard Bodee she was deeply troubled by what she was seeing, and she shared her concerns of the safety of Americans, both at home and abroad.

We're including exerts from the 20-minute interview:

Richard Bodee: "What is your reaction to what is playing out right now?"

Congresswoman Walorski: "Well, this is a disaster and this has been a disaster. Now, we’re seeing everyone’s worst fears."

The congresswoman did not hold back as explosions struck the airport where U.S. Forces have been conducting large-scale evacuations of Americans and Afghan translators since August 15.

"This has been botched from the beginning," Walorski says. "It’s a disgrace to any American. That’s why I called for the immediate resignation of President Biden’s entire National Security team."

She says she worries for the Americans still stuck in Kabul, and, in the rushed efforts to leave Afghanistan, she says we’ve upended the entire Middle East, creating chaos.

Richard: "What does this mean for global terrorism? Are we less safe now because of this?"

Congresswoman Walorski: "We have unsettled our own country. We are very much more vulnerable than we ever have been. We’ve unsettled the entire Middle East. We’ve unsettled Israel then with their issues with Iran. We’ve provided weapons enough for the whole Middle East to be able to buy, sell, and trade on how they want to more effectively use higher-grade weapons against us and our partner Israel."

Walorski adds the focus now should be on saving American lives and helping our allies, saying evacuations should continue until everyone is safe.

The Pentagon says an extension to the President’s August 31 deadline for evacuations would require "more talks."

"Minutes count, hours count," Walorski says. "And as you and I are speaking now, there’s still real activity over there."

Congresswoman Walorski adds it’s not the time to point fingers on if this was a multi-administration failure, which some military experts and former cabinet member of past presidential administrations allege. The congresswoman did lay a lot of blame on the Biden Administration.

This all comes just weeks away from the 20th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th.

Richard: "What’s your message to veterans who served?"

Congresswoman Walorski: "We could not have done, and moved on in this world, without them. We owe them a debt of gratitude. I am forever humbled for the ones in our District that we get the opportunity to work with and work for and nothing they have done is in vain."

Follow ABC57 News for the latest on the evolving situation in Kabul.