Fact check: Biden claims al Qaeda is 'gone' from Afghanistan. Then the Pentagon confirms it's still there

Defending the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said at the White House on Friday: "Look, let's put this thing in perspective. What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point, with al Qaeda gone? We went to Afghanistan for the express purpose of getting rid of al Qaeda in Afghanistan as well as -- as well as -- getting Osama bin Laden. And we did."

Facts First: Biden's claim that al Qaeda is "gone" from Afghanistan is false -- as his own administration acknowledged soon afterward. Following Biden's remarks, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters, "We know that al Qaeda is a presence, as well as ISIS, in Afghanistan, and we've talked about that for quite some time." Biden has correctly said in previous prepared remarks, including a speech on Monday, that al Qaeda has been "degraded" in Afghanistan; the terror group is widely viewed as having been substantially weakened by the 20-year US-led war. But Biden clearly went too far on Friday when he said -- while offering impromptu answers to reporters' questions -- that the group does not exist in Afghanistan at all.