Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told Newsmax on Tuesday that someone in the State Department is blocking Americans from leaving Haiti, an inexplicable action he lays at the feet of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, "the worst we've ever had."
Everything else is in place for Americans who want to leave Haiti; approvals from the Haiti government, "what's left of it," as well as a partner organization to help get them out, Mullin said in an appearance on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren."
"I have their name. We have just submitted questions to the State Department, wanting to know why this one person blocked them," Mullin told Van Susteren.
Mullin touted the work of a Texas-based organization called HaitiOne, which specializes in country and gets Americans out — once the State Department gets out of the way.
"They've been working for years in Haiti. Our State Department has partnered with them before," Mullin said. "Right now, as I was saying Greta, there's no one there actually to go rescue Americans. [HaitiOne] is able to work and operate; they know how to move in Haiti. It is not safe for anybody to move in Haiti right now, so you have to have assistance. It's not just as easy for Americans just to decide, 'Hey, we're going to get to the airport and go;' you can't get to the airport. The gangs actually have it."
But this has happened before, Mullin said, recounting how the State Department blocked Americans from leaving Afghanistan in 2021.
"They could go in there and get them if the State Department said go. That's a little bit more difficult, because now we have military action going on there, but we can partner with individuals that work in the country that can go get these individuals out," Mullin said.
"But we have a very weak, and actually the worst Secretary of State we've ever had, with Secretary Blinken, who just doesn't feel the need to go get Americans out. He's really good about leaving Americans behind, actually."
A State Department spokesperson offered comment Wednesday afternoon.
"The U.S. Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas. Prior to the recent resumption of commercial flights to Haiti, the Department of State directly assisted the departure of over 1,300 people using U.S. government-chartered aircraft between March 17 and May 30.
"As noted in our Travel Advisories, the security situation in Haiti remains dangerous and unpredictable. We continue to advise Americans not to travel to Haiti. The U.S. government cannot guarantee our citizens' safety within country.
"We have no knowledge of the incident to which Sen. Mullin is referring nor are we tracking an inquiry from his office on this matter.”
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