CNN commentator David Urban tore into former President Joe Biden over his failure to meet with the families of the 13 U.S. service members who lost their lives in the attack on Abbey Gate in August of 2021 — and his failure to even recognize their sacrifice.
At the Republican National Convention (RNC), however, those families were given a forum — and they all spoke about the fact that when Joe Biden said nothing, former President Donald Trump had invited them in and listened to their stories.
Mother-in-Law of Sgt. Nicole Leeann Gee, who was killed in the attack on Abbey Gate:
“While Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice…Donald Trump knew all of our children’s names. He knew their stories.” pic.twitter.com/6loatdaNSy
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 18, 2024
“While Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice…Donald Trump knew all of our children’s names. He knew their stories,” SGT. Nicole Gee’s mother-in-law said on Wednesday evening.
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL), a combat veteran and the first Green Beret elected to Congress, shared the story of how Trump had planned to meet with the families for an hour and had instead stayed with them for more than six hours, talking with them and listening to their stories.
Following the RNC’s move to feature those Gold Star families, Urban and a number of others were quick to call out Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan — and the fact that he repeatedly qualified the operation as a success despite not even meeting with the families who lost loved ones because of it.
CNN’s @DavidJUrban on the Gold Star families at #RNC2024: “It’s just unforgivable. I mean, Hunter Lopez — his father. Andrew — I got choked up his father’s reading those names. As somebody who’s went to West Point, served in the military, has been deployed overseas, fought in… pic.twitter.com/H4xLAmykq9
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 18, 2024
“It’s just unforgivable. I mean, Hunter Lopez — his father. Andrew — I got choked up by his father’s reading those names. As somebody who’s went to West Point, served in the military, has been deployed overseas, fought in the war, the fact that Joe Biden never met with those families, the fact that Joe Biden forgot — forgot — that those kids died is just unforgivable. The fact that the White House has never bothered to clean up or say we’re sorry, it’s just unforgivable. It’s unforgivable to me as an American,” Urban said.
ABC News’ Terry Moran also commented on the RNC’s decision to give those families a platform — and how many other veterans he’s spoken to also seemed to feel abandoned by the current administration.
ABC’s @TerryMoran on the Gold Star families at #RNC2024: “David, I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced anything like that at a convention. The connection between this crowd and those family members of the fallen. It was just absolutely extraordinary. The emotions, the call and… pic.twitter.com/Nr8pTUT6mu
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 18, 2024
“I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced anything like that at a convention. The connection between this crowd and those family members of the fallen. It was just absolutely extraordinary. The emotions, the call and response, that the crowd started spontaneously, ‘never forget,’ reciting and repeating the names as they were read out,” Moran explained during a live shot from the convention floor in Milwaukee.
“And it wasn’t just compassion and the sorrow that linked the crowd and the speakers. It was the anger. I’ve been out here this afternoon talking to veterans — Vietnam-era veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. About the campaign in general, and without being prompted, they bring up Afghanistan and the sense of shame and anger that they felt for the country and — and in this campaign,” he said.
