BREAKING: Gold Star families defend Trump, slam Kamala: 'Why will you not express your condolences yourself?'

Gold Star family members from the botched Afghanistan withdrawal called out Vice President Kamala Harris in videos posted to Donald Trump's Truth Social on Saturday evening. They were responding to a post that Harris made on Saturday saying that Trump going to Arlington a "political stunt." 

Earlier in the week, some of families had invited Trump to come with them to place flowers on the graves of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, Sgt. Nicole Gee, and Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss. Harris later criticized Trump for taking photos with them earlier in the week. On Saturday evening, several of the family members gave heartfelt statements calling on Harris to personally reach out to them.  

Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of Sergeant Nicole Gee, said in her video, "Why won't you return a call and explain to us how you call my daughter-in-law's death a 'success.'" 

She added, "Why will you not express your condolences yourself? ... And finally, why would you take a day, where we celebrated the death of our loved one, and use it to not only disparage them, but us?"

Herman Lopez, the father of Corporal Hunter Lopez, slammed Harris for posting earlier on Saturday where she said, "I will always honor the service and sacrifice of all of America’s fallen heroes." 

Jim McCollum, the father of Lance Corporal Rylee McCollum, also sent a message to Harris, saying that her recent remarks about Trump in Arlington are "filled with nothing but lies and deceit." He said that Harris and Biden are responsible for the tragedy that happened in the Afghanistan pull out.  

Mark Schmitz, the father of Lance Corporal Jared M. Schmitz, also sent a message to Harris, saying the post from Harris claiming that she cares about those serving the country is an "outright lie." 

Jaclyn Schmitz, the mother of Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz also slammed Harris for her statement, saying that "Your statement is nothing more than a political spin to help you look better in your presidential campaign against Donald Trump." 

Steve Nikoui, the father of Lance Corporal Kareem M. Nikoui, sent a message as well, simply stating to Harris: "Your administration killed my son." Nikoui held up a picture of his son, saying that the Biden-Harris administration was playing politics with people’s lives. He added that Harris has never reached out to him.

Coral Doolittle, the mother of Corporal Humberto A. Sanchez pushed back against the post from Harris as well. She called on Harris and Biden to meet with the Gold Star families: “I think that as a parent, we deserve an explanation, and we deserve the truth of what happened with our kids that day.” 

Darin Hoover, the father of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, reminded Harris that she was the “last one in the room” for the decision to pull out of Afghanistan. He, along with other family members that were there at Arlington, said that they did not witness an altercation take place as was reported by media outlets. He reiterated that the ceremony was solemn and that there was no discussion about politics.