Gold Star Families Blast Biden For Whitewashing Military Deaths

Joe Biden has told his fair share of lies throughout his 50-plus year political career. But one of his most egregious came during last week’s debate against Donald Trump, in which the befuddled president claimed zero U.S. service members have died under his watch.

“I’m the only president this century — this decade that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world,” he said.

The patently false claim has not gone unnoticed by Gold Star families whose loved ones were killed during Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal. The horrifically executed pull-out led to the deaths of 13 service members and left billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. military equipment in the hands of the Taliban.

“You know, the stumbling, bumbling buffoon that we have in the White House had the audacity to say that under his watch that no military members have died,” Darin Hoover, the father of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, told Fox News. The younger Hoover was one of the 13 service members who perished in Kabul nearly three years ago and was engaged to be married at the time of his death.

“[T]he rage, the absolute disgust that I got, from hearing [Biden] say that — I started yelling back at the TV,” the deceased Marine’s father said. “Just out of frustration. He’s never acknowledged, not one time, any of our kids. He’s never said their names. Even to this day, I doubt very seriously that he even knows their names.”

Hoover’s mother Kelly Barnett similarly added: “What I would say to them is shame on you using our children as a pawn. It just makes me sick.”

Gold Star father Mark Schmitz also expressed outrage over Biden’s lie, telling the New York Post he had to “apologize” to his children for using strong language after hearing the president’s claim on Thursday. Schmitz’s son, Marine Cpl. Jared Schmitz, died at the age of 20 during the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.

“It took all self-restraint not to put my fist right through my TV,” Schmitz said. “I was beyond ticked off, disrespected. That’s all we’ve ever gotten out of this president.”

[READ:[READ:Here Are The 20 Biggest Whoppers Biden Told During His Debate With Trump]

Steve Nikoui, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui — another victim of Biden’s botched Kabul pull-out — similarly told the Post he wasn’t shocked by Biden’s dismissive remark. Americans likely remember Nikoui as the Gold Star father arrested by Capitol Police for shouting at Biden during the latter’s State of the Union address earlier this year.

“I was just as shocked as anyone else, but I wasn’t surprised,” Nikoui said regarding Biden’s disgusting debate lie. “I’m glad that the rest of America is able to see what we’ve been dealing with for the last three years.”

“What he did last night was he basically refused to honor the service and sacrifice of the 13 servicemen and women that were killed at the Abbey gate directly — were killed because of his incompetence — and he refuses, since that’s happened, to even recognize them,” he added.

Coral Briseno and Christy Shamblin, the mother and mother-in-law of Marines Humberto Sanchez and Nicole Gee, respectively — both of whom died during the Afghanistan withdrawal — were also among those to criticize Biden for lying about the number of service members killed during his presidency.

In a recently released video, one purported Gold Star widow said she’s received numerous communications about the president’s comments, noting how her husband was killed in the line of duty seven months ago while on deployment by the Biden administration.

“Everyone expects me to be really angry about that statement, about him not remembering that sacrifice that my husband made,” she said. “But here’s a little secret: I was already f-cking angry because when I had to fly for 12 hours for the first time with my 16-month-old to Dover Air Force Base eight hours after learning my husband died to receive his remains back into the United States, you know who couldn’t be bothered to show up to that dignified transfer? Joe Biden.”

See her full remarks below.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood