Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) slammed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for ignoring a request from Gold Star families to visit with them at Arlington National Cemetery, the New York Post reported. The families were commemorating the third anniversary of their loved ones' deaths after Biden's disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.
Cotton, a decorated Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, appeared on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. Host Kristen Welker asked Cotton about former President Donald Trump's decision to visit the cemetery for a wreath-laying ceremony and allegedly using it as a campaign photo op.
"He didn't take campaign photos there," the Arkansas Republican shot back, rejecting her premise. "These families — Gold Star families — whose children died because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ incompetence invited him to the cemetery, and they asked him to take those photos," Cotton said before laying into Biden and Harris for not showing up.
Cotton turned the tables on the president and vice president for their decision to ignore the grieving families. "You know who the families also invited? Joe Biden and Kamala Harris," Cotton pointed out.
"Where were they? Joe Biden was sitting at a beach," Cotton said, referring to Biden's Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, residence, where he has spent more than a week and counting.
"Kamala Harris was sitting at her mansion in Washington, D.C. She was 4 miles away — 10 minutes," Cotton said of Harris, who lives at the Naval Conservatory as the vice president. "She could’ve gone to the cemetery and honored the sacrifice of those young men and women, but she hasn’t," the senator said of Harris.
"She never has spoken to them or taken a meeting with them,” he continued. Cotton believes Biden's decision to pull out of Afghanistan abruptly in August 2021 led to the deaths of 13 service members at the Kabul airport.
"It is because of her and Joe Biden’s incompetence that those 13 Americans were killed in Afghanistan," Cotton added. The families of the fallen heroes seem to believe that as well.
The media has attempted to portray Trump's actions as an affront to those whose family members were killed. Harris had claimed that Trump's visit "disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt," Fox News reported.
In response, the Gold Star families released a joint statement supporting Trump. "We, the families of the brave service members who were tragically killed in the Abbey Gate bombing, are appalled by Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent attempts to politicize President Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery," the families said.
"President Trump was invited by us, the Gold Star families, to attend the solemn ceremonies commemorating the three-year anniversary of our children’s deaths. He was there to honor their sacrifice, yet Vice President Harris has disgracefully twisted this sacred moment into a political ploy," the families added.
Harris should tread lightly on this issue. She has admitted to being the "last person in the room" when Biden made the fateful decision to abandon the conflict, and now she shares the blame.
Biden and Harris don't have the decency to show their faces to the grieving families. This is why the Gold Star families support Trump's willingness to show up for them and even take videos and photos, and Cotton is correct to point that out.
