The father of a US Marine, who was killed in a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport during the US Afghanistan withdrawal, has called US President Joe Biden a “disgrace,” saying he has “more American blood” on his hands than any other president in US history.
Mark Schmitz, whose son Jared Schmitz was among the 13 US service members killed in the attack, spoke at a roundtable discussion with other Gold Star family members before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
“Not a single person has been held accountable,” Schmitz said. “Our so-called leader can’t seem to even utter their names in public, not even once.”
Schmitz stated that he regretted not saying what he thought to Biden when he had the opportunity to meet him at Dover Air Force Base, where his son’s body was returned.
“While I stood there on the tarmac watching you check your watch over and over again, all I wanted to do was shout out, ‘It’s 2 f—ing 30, a-hole,'” he said. “But out of respect for the other grieving families, I bit my tongue once again.”
“You are a disgrace to this nation,” Schmitz said, addressing Biden. “You have no business having ultimate command over our military.”
Schmitz said Biden has “stolen the lives, their futures, their dreams and have ripped apart 13 families.” He requested investigations into Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for their involvement in the Afghanistan withdrawal.
The Gold Star families at Tuesday’s hearing have repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for both the decision-making in the withdrawal and what they said was incomplete or incorrect information given to them.
Kelly Barnett, the mother of Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, said, “They knew this was going to happen, or it was part of their plan. They were too busy shaking hands with the Taliban, cleaning up, and making sure we left it clean and tidy for the Taliban to worry about giving our snipers the OK to make it all OK.”
The US Foreign Affairs Committee is investigating the deadly suicide bombing outside the Kabul Airport in late August 2021, killing 13 US service members and at least 170 civilians while foreign troops were evacuating people from Afghanistan.
