President Biden remained on vacation with no comments or events planned for the third anniversary of the Kabul airport attack, just weeks after slamming former President Donald Trump for canceling a visit to a World War I memorial.
During his presidency, Trump canceled a planned visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in 2018, citing bad weather affecting Marine One flights. The Atlantic reported that the visit was canceled because rain damaged his hair. Biden visited the French cemetery in June and criticized Trump for past reports, which have been denied by several members of the administration who accompanied Trump.
“It was an honor to visit the Aisne-Marne American Military Cemetery and pay my respects to those buried there. Those who served our country are heroes, not losers,” Biden posted on X in June, along with a collection of videos of people criticizing Trump.
Last Monday marked three years since 13 American service members were killed in a suicide bomb attack during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, but President Biden missed the White House for a second straight week.
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“On the anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal, as the migration and economic crises continue, President Biden continues to do what he does best: do nothing!” Arizona Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko said in a post on X.
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Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona said Biden's absence “should tell you all the information you need to know.”
“3 years ago, 13 U.S. soldiers died in the Biden-Harris Administration's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. President Trump attended a ceremony today to honor them at Arlington Cemetery,” Biggs posted on X. “Biden is on vacation.”
“I wasn't the least bit surprised that neither of them came to the event,” Mark Schmitz, one of the Gold Star fathers, told Fox News Digital.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on August 26, 2024, along with Marine Corps Lance Corporal Kelsey Reinhart (Ret.) and Marine Corps Sergeant Tyler Vargas Andrews (Ret.), who were injured in the Abbey Gate bombing. (Anna Moneymaker)
The White House issued a statement on the anniversary, but Biden did not attend any memorial services as publicly scheduled.
“Three years ago, an ISIS suicide bomber deliberately carried out a vicious attack at Abiy Gate outside Kabul airport, killing 13 American service members and more than 100 innocent Afghans. Today, and every day, we mourn those who fell in battle,” Biden said in a statement.
The president's stay at the beach marks his second vacation this month, after spending a week in Santa Barbara, California, at the Democratic National Convention.
A White House spokesman for the National Security Council was asked on the anniversary whether a written statement had been “enough.”
President Biden sits in beach chairs with his wife, Jill Biden, on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. (Lee Greene)
“Going to Arlington or issuing individual paper statements is not going to be enough to give back to these families and make sure they know they are being supported,” John Kirby told CNN.
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President Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honor the service members who lost their lives in Afghanistan. Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio and the Trump campaign held a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon, with Gold Star families joining them.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
