(Headline USA) President Joe Biden claimed this week that he thinks about the 13 U.S. service members killed during his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan “every day,” even though he still has not called those soldiers’ families.
“Thirteen brave Americans lost their lives, along with hundreds of Afghans, in a suicide bomb,” Biden said during his address to the United Nations this week. “I think [of] those lost lives—I think of them every day.”
Biden went on to defend the withdrawal, calling it “a hard decision, but the right decision.”
The Gold Star families who lost their loved ones during the withdrawal dismissed Biden’s feigned concern.
“He thinks of them only because they are the casualties of his reckless decisions and policies,” Gold Star dad Steve Nikoui, who lost his son Kareem, a Marine Corps lance corporal, told the New York Post.
“When he says he thinks of them everyday, what he really means is he despises them because they, in his eyes, have tarnished his legacy,” Nikoui added.
Gold Star father Darin Hoover, who lost his son, Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, blasted Biden’s speech as dishonest pandering.
“His saying that he thinks of our kids every day is a lie. He’s never even said their names because he doesn’t know them,” Hoover said.
“It was HIS decision to pull out from Afghanistan and do it in the manner that he did,” Hoover added. “He has blood on his hands and we WILL NOT FORGET, EVER.”
Gold Star father Herman Lopez, who lost his son, Marine Cpl. Hunter Lopez, said he’s at least thankful Biden is publicly acknowledging his son and the other soldiers who lost their lives.
“I am glad that he finally mentioned them in a speech. But he’s doing it on his way out,” Lopez pointed out. “It’s a little too late.”
The Gold Star families also have said Biden still has not reached out to them, even three years after the chaotic exit from the region.
