The fathers of two Gold Star medal recipients killed in the botched Afghanistan withdrawal effort slammed Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden on Tuesday for “gaslighting” and neglecting their families over the past three years.
Harris received backlash from Gold Star families over the weekend after she criticized former President Donald Trump for a video he recorded at the third anniversary ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Speaking on Fox Business' “The Bottom Line,” Darin Huber, the father of a Gold Star whose son, Staff Sergeant Taylor Huber, was killed in action, accused Harris of taking away the “memories” of fallen service members, saying, “There's no need for that.”
“First, let me be clear: that solemn occasion was three years in the making, and for her to take that memory away from us and disparage the only memory we'll ever have with Taylor, as you did in that montage, is absolutely disgusting and gaslighting to all of us who were there that day,” Huber said.
“We were there, Sergeant Nicole Gee's family was there. [and] “Staff Sergeant Ryan Knaus' parents were on the phone,” Huber continued. “So we didn't see anything, hear anything, know anything until that smear story came out on NPR the next day while we were on the plane back home. What she did was despicable and totally unnecessary.”
Mark Schmitz, father of Gold Star recipient Marine Corporal Jared Schmitz, echoed Huber, saying the Biden administration has “neglected” the families of Gold Star recipients over the past three years. (RELATED: “Meet the Press” issues correction after host makes false claim in exchange with GOP senator
“Well, what we've gotten over the last three years has been a slap in the face, a rub in the wound, a neglect. And when we go back to the debates, our kids are still alive, because according to Biden, he hasn't killed anyone during his term and he hasn't let anyone be killed,” Schmitz said.
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“A letter was sent to the White House by Governor Cox, Darin Hoover, inviting the Biden administration to participate in the event,” Schmitz continued. “There was no response, absolutely no response. The same message was sent to Trump. Trump answered the invitation and showed up. Good for him.”
Schmitz went on to say that the families had been “fair” with the Biden administration from the beginning, but have yet to receive “answers” from either Harris or Biden.
“Put yourself in our shoes. If you lost your son or daughter to a terrible tragedy, especially at the hands of this administration, you would want leadership, you would want the president to honor your child. That's what everyone wants. We've been fair from the beginning. We want to hear answers, we want to talk to the White House, we want to talk to this administration, we want to talk to Kamala, we want to talk to Joe. They ignore us and they literally walk the other way.”
Eight Gold Star families recorded videos criticizing the vice president for standing up to Trump, explaining that they had invited the former president.
After Trump attended a ceremony last week, cemetery staff reportedly tried to stop Trump's staff from taking photographs in an area reserved for dead and wounded U.S. military personnel, resulting in an altercation. According to To NPR.
The Trump campaign has since denied the altercation, with former Democratic congresswoman Tasli Gabbard saying on CNN on Sunday that the campaign was “authorized to bring in cameras to document.”
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