A number of Gold Star family members laid into President Joe Biden and members of his administration, calling them out over the disastrous exit from Afghanistan that took the lives of their loved ones.
At an event in Escondido, California — hosted by Mayor Dane White and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) — relatives of the thirteen service members killed by the suicide bomber at the Kabul airport on August 26, 2021, joined together to speak publicly about their experiences.
Issa introduced the event, billed as the Afghanistan Gold Star Families Public Forum, saying that while they had officially allotted five minutes for each family member who wanted to speak, no one was going to enforce time limits as long as the families had something to share.
RIGHT NOW: I am in Escondido where Mayor @Dwhite1904 is hosting #C48’s @repdarrellissa for an Afghanistan Gold Star Families Public Forum, where family members of those killed during Biden’s chaotic withdrawal are speaking jointly for the first time
(1/xx) pic.twitter.com/jbRpV73IPG
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) August 7, 2023
Issa also made it clear that the ultimate goal was to make sure that such a tragedy never happened again: “Did they have to die? Could we have done something different? … I only apologize that we didn’t do it sooner.”
Then the family members began to speak, and they had little if anything positive to say about Biden and the military leaders who had been a part of the decision-making process during the troop drawdown and withdrawal — and most were absolutely furious that the administration had then insisted the withdrawal had been a “success.”
SSG Taylor Hoover’s mother was among those who spoke, and she said that the blame for her son’s death rested on Biden, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and others. “Incompetent, cowards, evil,” she said.
Taylor’s concern was immediately apparent when he got to Afghanistan, Kelly says. He warned her of:
“Chaos, lack of communication, no leadership.” “Command cares nothing for us.”
“What kind of disrespect, what kind of hatred for our military, what kind of mess” would have made…
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) August 7, 2023
Hoover’s father spoke as well, saying that the Biden administration “did not uphold their end of that contract.”
“This didn’t need to happen in the manner that it did,” he added, saying that leadership had “made a conscious decision that made a chaotic and frantic withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
He went on to call out those leaders, saying that it was “nothing short of disgusting and ignorant” that they had turned around and claimed that the withdrawal had been a success. “I’m calling out Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, General Milley … and ultimately, the president, and do what our son did: and be a grown ass man … You all need to resign immediately. Our sons and daughters have more integrity in their little toes than all of them combined.”
“I’m calling out Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, General Milley,” Whited (who did not give the call to take out the bomber), and “ultimately, the president, and do what our son did: and be a grown ass man.”
“You all need to resign immediately. Our sons and daughters have…
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) August 7, 2023
Nicole Gee’s mother said she knew no forum would ever bring her daughter back, but her goal in speaking was to make sure that the service members who came afterward would be treated with the respect earned by the 13 who lost their lives that day in Kabul.
“When our leaders, include the secretary of defense and our commander in chief, called this a ‘success,’… it’s like a knife in the heart,” she said. “These deaths were preventable. My daughter could be with us today. To call it a success is the ultimate disrespect. There were 13 avoidable deaths … This was not a success. What we’re asking for it to stop the insanity and make it better for the next group.”
“These deaths were preventable. My daughter could be with us today.”
“To call it a success is the ultimate disrespect.”
“There were 13 avoidable deaths,” not to mention the wounded.
“This was not a success.”
“What we’re asking for it to stop the insanity and make it better…
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) August 7, 2023
Dylan Merola’s mother called Biden “heartless,” saying that he had claimed to know how she felt but never once mentioned her son’s name. “If they had closed the gate, my son would be alive today,” she added.
“How could a worldwide event” just vanish from coverage, she asks
“Everything, even the way my son died, was being covered up.”
A colonel told her she wouldn’t want to see the drone footage. “I had already seen my son’s lifeless body,” who is he to say that?
(18/xx)
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) August 7, 2023
“The commander in chief failed in the oath he took … he failed everybody,” Humberto Sanchez’s mother said. “I want the answers, I want the truth … I want to know this type of failure will not repeat itself again … I will fight til my last breath to get the truth.”
Hunter Lopez’s mother said that she believed there was more to the story — and objected to the notion that it was time to “turn the page.”
“If fault was to be found in someone wearing fatigues and not a suit, they would have been on trial a long time ago,” she said, adding, “We do not want a partial truth or truth told in a book release…as Americans, we want this truth. As Gold Star families, we deserve this truth. We deserved it two years ago, and we deserve it today.”
“We do not want a partial truth or truth told in a book release…as Americans, we want this truth. As Gold Star families, we deserve this truth. We deserved it two years ago, and we deserve it today.”
(26/xx)
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) August 7, 2023
Rep. Issa has promised to get to the bottom of the issue, saying, “The Biden Administration lied to every one of these Gold Star families. That’s why we brought them forward. These are the words the White House doesn’t want you to hear.”
The Biden Administration lied to every one of these Gold Star families.
That’s why we brought them forward. These are the words the White House doesn’t want you to hear.
— Rep. Darrell Issa (@repdarrellissa) August 7, 2023