Trump honors fallen soldiers from Afghanistan at Arlington memorial service, Kamala and Biden are no shows

August 26, 2024, marks the third anniversary of the bombing at Abbey Gate that killed 13 service members amid the Biden-Harris administration's botched Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021. Donald Trump attended a wreath laying ceremony for the soldiers, however, President Joe Biden's schedule was left nearly empty for Monday other than a briefing. Vice President Kamala Harris decided not to attend the event.

Footage from the event showed Trump leaning down to place a wreath over the grave of Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss as he spoke to the fallen soldier's family over the phone.

 

Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss

Trump laid wreaths on the graves at the Arlington National Cemetary for those 13 soldiers who lost their lives three years ago.

He later made a statement on the event, saying that it is not talked about anymore and that the 13 soldiers would not be dead if Biden was not the president during the withdrawal. Trump had set the date for the withdrawal, but when Biden came into office, he did not prepare for the withdrawal, and not only cost servicemen their lives by left millions upon millions of dollars worth of US military equipment behind. The Taliban, which leads Afghanistan, recently staged a military parade with that equipment.
A press release from Harris' team revealed that Harris was in Washington, DC, on Monday and would not be in attendance for the ceremony, "The Vice President will be in Washington, DC where she will receive briefings and conduct internal meetings with staff. These meetings will be closed press." No mention was made of the anniversary.

The Biden White House schedule was empty on Monday as well aside from an out-of-town pool call at 10 am, at approximately the same time as the Arlington Cemetary event. Gold Star family members of the fallen soldiers who died at the Abbey Gate bombing three years ago have previously commented on the cavalier response that the Biden-Harris administration has had towards the incident.

Darin Hoover, the father of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover previously told The Post Millennial that he took issue with the way the administration handled the whole situation, "We'd like to change with the way things are handled, so that there's not a family who loses their child under the same circumstances as we did ... We just got to keep going along and pushing until we get those changes made," he said after this year's Republican National Convention.

Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover

About three years ago, when Harris was questioned by press about Americans in Afghanistan during a late evening press pool, she laughed at a reporter eager to get her comment, saying, "Hold on, hold on, slow down everybody (laughter) I want to talk about two things. First Afghanistan" and then began to make a statement.

Additionally, Biden infamously checked his watched multiple times as the fallen soldiers, draped in American flags, were brought home. Many saw the crass action during the event as characterizing the administration's role in the botched withdrawal, as it was not planned carefully. While fact-checkers went all in on trying to debunk the claim that Biden checked his watch, the photographs from that day don't lie.

Biden has made other missteps since then, claiming that no military members died under his administration in the June debate with Trump. Aunt to Sgt. Nicole L. Gee previously told TPM that she was not surprised when Biden tried to lie about his record.

Sgt. Nicole L. Gee.

All other fallen military members from the Abbey Gate bombing not previously mentioned can be seen below:


Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum


Cpl. Hunter Lopez


Cpl. Humberto "Bert" Sanchez


Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo


Cpl. Daegan W. Page


Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza


Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz


Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola



Lance Cpl. Kareem Mae'Lee Grant Nikoui


Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak