Biden Snaps at Gold Star Dad Who Forced Him to Look at Photo of His KIA Son
In the aftermath of America’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden has been forced to face the consequences of his incompetence.
This has included confronting the families of the service members slain on Thursday following suicide bombings outside the airport in Kabul.
On Sunday, Mark Schmitz — the father of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, who died in last week’s explosions — challenged Biden to take responsibility for his mismanaged exit strategy (or lack thereof).
During a meeting with Biden, Schmitz and his ex-wife pulled out a photo of Jared, demanding Biden look at it, The Washington Post reported.
“Don’t you ever forget that name. Don’t you ever forget that face. Don’t you ever forget the names of the other 12,” Schmitz told the president.
According to the Post, Biden “did not seem to like that.” In response, Biden went on the defensive, saying, “I do know their stories.”
This has been a common theme over the last several days — the families of slain servicemen and women in Afghanistan don’t feel that Biden’s sympathies are genuine.
On Friday, Kathy McCollum, the mother of 20-year-old Rylee McCollum — also killed in the Kabul attacks — called into a radio show, blaming Biden for her son’s death.
Mother of U.S. Marine Rylee McCollum, who died in the Kabul bombing: “all you Democrats… who voted for [Biden], you just killed my son… never would have happened under Trump.” pic.twitter.com/74eZ24jwaE
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) August 28, 2021
“Twenty years and 6 months old, getting ready to come from freaking Jordan to be home with his wife to watch the birth of his son, and that feckless, dementia-ridden piece of crap just sent my son to die,” she said.
Then, on Sunday, McCollum’s family had a chance to meet the president.
Every member of the family, except Rylee’s wife, Jiennah, walked out on Biden before he even had a chance to speak.
According to Jiennah, the conversation that followed was “scripted and shallow.”
A Biden meeting w/ the pregnant widow of one of the dead Marines didn’t go well
“It struck the family as scripted and shallow, a conversation that lasted only a couple of minutes..”https://t.co/XTYDG5saMV pic.twitter.com/LxDyoZrXy4— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) August 30, 2021
Rather than take responsibility, Biden recounted the story of how his son Beau died of cancer.
Rylee’s sister Roice believed Biden’s words were in “total disregard to the loss of our Marine.”
“You can’t f*** up as bad as he did and say you’re sorry,” she said. “This did not need to happen, and every life is on his hands.”
Invoking the story of Beau’s death was a calculated move — rather than face blame for what happened in Afghanistan, Biden can pretend to identify with the families of those fallen soldiers.
But they’re not buying this ruse any more than the general public is. After all, it’s a false comparison — Beau died of natural causes.
The men and women who returned home from Afghanistan in flag-draped coffins didn’t die from some unavoidable accident — they died because of Joe Biden’s incompetence.
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