White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attempted to clean up President Joe Biden’s false statement that no U.S. troops died under his watch.
Biden falsely said he is the first president in the past decade to not witness American troops’ deaths overseas, though thirteen service members died during the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 26, 2021.
“Three U.S. troops that died in Jordan this year and more in Afghanistan in 2021. How can the president say none have died during his administration?” a reporter asked during Friday’s press gaggle.
“So, uh, look, um — obviously the president, as you know, is the Commander-in-Chief and you hear him even when he ends all of these remarks, he talks about respecting our troops who are serving today. And he will always do that and continues to do that. And he obviously had his son was — was obviously served as well. So this is something that he respects. And so, look, I don’t think that’ll ever change. Obviously, our hearts and our thoughts go out to the families who are clearly still suffering and thinking about their loved ones. So we’ll continue to do that and I would refer you to the campaign about specifics about fact-checking and all of those pieces. But I can speak to a president that has been incredibly respectful of the military and what they do for us day in and day out and how they continue to serve our country.”
“Well, I understand that was said during the debate, so you can refer to the campaign. But he’s the president. These weren’t off the cuff remarks, they felt prepared. And it was clearly a mistake. Does he not consider these to be?” the reporter pressed.
Karine attempts to clean up Biden’s false remark that no troops died under his watch pic.twitter.com/A6pCdPg7JI
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 28, 2024
“What I will say is the president respects our military force. He respects the families who have lost members of the military. He will continue to do that, he has been very consistent about that, not just as president, but as vice president, as senator. You hear him talk about the service and how they put their lives on the line every single day to protect us. He always ends his remarks mentioning that, mentioning and lifting up our service members and that’s what I can speak to at this time,” she said. (RELATED: ‘You Don’t Even Care’: Mother Of Slain Marine Blasts Biden For Not Mentioning 13 Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan)
Gold star families of five of the thirteen service members told the Daily Caller they felt abandoned by the president and called on the administration to admit to its mistakes and honor the fallen. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she had “nothing to share” on how the president planned to commemorate the service members’ deaths during an August 29, 2022 briefing.
Biden reportedly believed “nobody made a mistake” during the withdrawal despite the widespread backlash from the gold star families and his critics, according to a book titled “The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore Foreign Policy After Trump.” The book, written by Politico’s Alexander Ward, wrote “no one offered to resign” and no one had been fired due to Biden believing the administration did commit any wrongdoing.
An internal review by the Biden administration placed the blame on former President Donald Trump’s administration in April 2023 for ordering communication with the Taliban and failing to leave a comprehensive plan on how the operation should be carried out.
White House national security council spokesman John Kirby said the president is “proud” of how the administration conducted the withdrawal.
