{"id":2336063,"date":"2024-09-03T11:57:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T15:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gold-star-families-fire-at-harris-for-attacking-arlington-service\/"},"modified":"2024-09-03T12:12:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T16:12:22","slug":"gold-star-families-fire-at-harris-for-attacking-arlington-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gold-star-families-fire-at-harris-for-attacking-arlington-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Gold Star Families Fire At Harris For Attacking Arlington Service"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgold-star-families-fire-at-harris-for-attacking-arlington-service%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2336063&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a\u200b controversial political move, Vice President Kamala Harris attempted to leverage the experiences of 13 Gold Star\u2064 families\u2014those who lost \u200dloved\u200c ones during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan\u2014to bolster her campaign against former President \u2064Donald Trump. This strategy backfired when several family members publicly condemned Harris for politicizing a\u200b tragedy linked to her administration\u2019s handling of the withdrawal. Trump attended a \u2062memorial event at Arlington National Cemetery,\u200b where \u200che was described by the \u200dfamilies as respectful and attentive, contrasting with Harris&#8217;s negative portrayal of his\u2063 presence there. <\/p>\n<p>Following the\u2064 event, Harris criticized Trump, accusing him of using the occasion for political gain. She claimed to honor \u2063the fallen while also suggesting that she was more suitable for the\u2063 role of\u200c commander-in-chief than Trump. The Gold Star families, however, expressed \u2063frustration\u2063 over\u200d her statements, arguing she only sought to improve her political standing and had not reached out \u2062to them during their mourning. Family members emphasized that Trump had\u2063 shown genuine concern, attending to their \u200cneeds when Harris and President Biden had\u200d not. In their responses, they rebuked Harris for \u200bher \u2063actions and highlighted her absence from their lives, noting her failure to make personal contact or acknowledge their losses.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Vice President Kamala Harris tried to use the plight of the 13 Gold Star families who lost their loved ones during the Biden administration&rsquo;s botched Afghanistan withdrawal to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/knowles-the-bad-faith-debate-over-cancel-culture\/\" title=\"KNOWLES: The Bad Faith Debate Over \u2018Cancel Culture\u2019\">score political points<\/a> in her 2024 campaign against former President Donald Trump. Her plot backfired tremendously, however, when several of the family members mourning those murdered during the terrorist attack at Abbey Gate issued statements condemning Harris for politicizing the remnants of a disaster she created. <\/p>\n<p>Trump, at the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MatthewFoldi\/status\/1828822658131374343\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">request<\/a>&nbsp;of the Gold Star families, attended a service at Arlington National Cemetery last week honoring the fallen on the third anniversary of their deaths. According to the families who organized the event, Trump and his team were <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TeamTrump\/status\/1830022360058970468\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&ldquo;respectful&rdquo; and &ldquo;listened to our stories&rdquo;<\/a> without interjecting. <\/p>\n<p>Yet, that didn&rsquo;t stop Harris and her allies from vilifying the Republican&rsquo;s appearance at the wreath-laying.<\/p>\n<p>The Army kicked off the scheme with an attempt to stifle the event<strong> <\/strong>by giving the families <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-arlington-cemetery-altercation-18086b03bb1214bc9b6a23f2aaea1c98?utm_source=09022024_09\/02\/2024&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=WEX%20-%20Alerts%20-%20York&amp;rid=24920155&amp;env=01e085c14053a387dd22bb8345b5ba6acf44c76f65b8c4f2671c756c59c1e42e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&ldquo;a hard time&rdquo;<\/a> about inviting Trump. The corporate media then <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/29\/joe-biden-got-13-americans-killed-in-afghanistan-but-garbage-media-are-mad-at-trump-for-mourning-with-their-families\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pounced<\/a>, publishing&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/08\/27\/nx-s1-5091154\/trump-arlington-cemetery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">anonymously sourced accounts<\/a>&nbsp;accusing Trump&rsquo;s team of leading a &ldquo;verbal and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gold-star-families-step-in-after-arlington-officials-point-finger-at-trump-campaign-over-incident-during-visit\/\" title=\"Gold Star Families Step In After Arlington Officials Point Finger at Trump Campaign Over &#039;Incident&#039; During Visit\">physical altercation&#038;rdquo<\/a>; with an Arlington National Cemetery official during the memorial service.<\/p>\n<p>Harris followed suit over Labor Day weekend with a winding statement claiming Trump &ldquo;disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>The Democrat not only revived the Biden White House&rsquo;s favorite <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/17\/biden-insults-bronze-star-veteran-in-bona-fide-suckers-and-losers-scandal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&ldquo;suckers and losers&rdquo;<\/a> hoax to accuse the former president of disparaging the troops, but also suggested she is better suited for the title of commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I will always honor the service and sacrifice of all of America&rsquo;s fallen heroes, who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of our beloved nation and our cherished freedoms. I mourn them and salute them. And I will never politicize them,&rdquo; Harris concluded.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>As Vice President, I have had the privilege of visiting Arlington National Cemetery several times. It is a solemn place; a place where we come together to honor American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of this nation.<\/p>\n<p>It is not a place for politics.<\/p>\n<p>And&hellip;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KamalaHarris\/status\/1829915590468731167?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The coordinated onslaught to undermine or smear Trump&rsquo;s presence at the solemn remembrance did not sit well with the Gold Star families who invited him.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Your statement is nothing more than a political spin to help you look better in your presidential campaign against Donald Trump,&rdquo; Jaclyn Schmitz, Gold Star Mother of Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TeamTrump\/status\/1830023014357909832\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said in a statement directed at Harris<\/a>. &ldquo;You have never walked a single day in our shoes. Our kids were murdered because of your administration. And you are partly to blame for that as well.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Harris claimed to be the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2024\/08\/07\/kamala-harris-biden-afghanistan-withdrawal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&ldquo;last person in the room&rdquo;<\/a>&nbsp;when the Biden administration decided to commence its botched Afghanistan withdrawal. As many of the family members testified, however, neither she nor Biden have reached out to those who paid the ultimate price for that decision over the last three years.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Why won&rsquo;t you return a call and explain to us how you call my daughter-in-law&rsquo;s death a success? Vice President Harris, why will you not express your condolences yourself? Why have we never heard from you? And finally, why would you take a day where we celebrated the death of our loved one and use it to disparage not only them but us?&rdquo; Sergeant Nicole Gee&rsquo;s mother-in-law Christy Shamblin said. &ldquo;President Trump has called. President Trump shows up. The President Trump takes the time to hear our loved one stories. Why won&rsquo;t you do the same?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WATCH: Message to Kamala from Christy Shamblin, Gold Star Mother-In-Law of Sergeant Nicole Gee: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/poRZ3Q2G3J\">pic.twitter.com\/poRZ3Q2G3J<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamTrump\/status\/1830022360058970468?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Jim McCollum, late Lance Corporal Rylee McCollum&rsquo;s father, told Harris that she &ldquo;failed for three years and eight months to acknowledge our kids, to acknowledge me.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know me. You&rsquo;ve never spoken to me. You&rsquo;ve never reached out to me. You have failed in your duties as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-biden-defector-emails-pipeline-to-obama-admin-seen-as-currency\/\" title=\"Hunter Biden Defector Emails: &#039;Pipeline&#039; to Obama Admin Seen as &#039;Currency&#039;\">vice president<\/a>. You have been nothing but disrespectful to me and the families of the 13. Yet you&rsquo;re claiming that you will always be respectful and show respect for our fallen you&rsquo;ve been absent for three years and eight months,&rdquo; he noted. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve proven that you&rsquo;re not capable to do the job that you have, let alone the job that you seek.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WATCH: Message to Kamala from Jim McCollum, Gold Star Father of Lance Corporal Rylee McCollum <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UnOXrpmztu\">pic.twitter.com\/UnOXrpmztu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamTrump\/status\/1830022537872392483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover&rsquo;s father Darin Hoover said that, unlike Harris, Trump &ldquo;has been there for us from the very beginning, when our son and the other 12 of his brothers and sisters in arms were murdered due to your negligence and uncaring attitude towards our military.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WATCH: Message to Kamala from Darin Hoover, Gold Star Father of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kaGJHdbpi7\">pic.twitter.com\/kaGJHdbpi7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamTrump\/status\/1830026564840431830?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>According to Mark Schmitz, the father of late Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, Trump didn&rsquo;t simply attend to &ldquo;help his political campaign.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We wanted a leader. That explains why you and Joe didn&rsquo;t get a call,&rdquo; he said. <\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WATCH: Message to Kamala from Mark Schmitz, Gold Star Father of Lance Corporal Jared M. Schmitz <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EyKBNTmmP8\">pic.twitter.com\/EyKBNTmmP8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamTrump\/status\/1830023196382285982?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Harris claimed in her controversial statement that she, not Trump, is better positioned to honor the U.S. military. The Gold Star families who have endured her <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamTrump\/status\/1830026564840431830\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&ldquo;lack of empathy&rdquo;<\/a> since 2021, however, noted that it was her &ldquo;incompetence and negligence that got our kids murdered.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is you who sends out messages on social media that are outright lies. It is you that has disrespected our families. It is you who knows nothing about service and sacrifice. It is you that has divided this country, and it is you who is unfit to be the commander in chief. These are the only memories we get to make with our son, and it is you who is playing politics and trying to detract from our memories made that day you should be ashamed and embarrassed that your lack of and decency as a human being,&rdquo; Hoover added. <\/p>\n<p>Instead of amplifying the Gold Star families&rsquo; accounts, publications like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/01\/us\/politics\/trump-harris-gold-star-families.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New York Times<\/a> painted the passionate statements as another political tool Trump used to advance his campaign.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Trump Campaign Uses Statements From Gold Star Families to Attack Harris,&rdquo; the Times&rsquo; Sunday headline stated.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vice President Kamala Harris attempted to leverage the tragedy of the 13 Gold Star families who lost their loved ones during the Biden administration&#8217;s flawed withdrawal from Afghanistan to gain political advantage in her 2024 campaign against former President Donald Trump. However, her strategy backfired significantly when multiple family members of those killed in the terrorist attack at Abbey Gate publicly criticized Harris for politicizing a disaster she was part of. <\/p>\n<p>At the request of these Gold Star families, Trump attended a memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery last week to honor the fallen on the third anniversary of their deaths. According to those who organized the event, Trump and his team were &#8220;respectful&#8221; and listened attentively without interrupting. Despite this, Harris and her supporters attacked Trump&#8217;s presence at the wreath-laying ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>The Army initially tried to undermine this event by making it difficult for families to invite Trump. Subsequently, corporate media reported anonymously sourced claims that Trump&#8217;s team had engaged in a &#8220;verbal and physical altercation&#8221; with an Arlington National Cemetery official during the memorial service.<\/p>\n<p>Over Labor Day weekend, Harris issued a lengthy statement accusing Trump of &#8220;disrespecting sacred ground&#8221; for political gain. She not only revived accusations from Biden&#8217;s administration about disparaging troops but also implied that she would be more suitable as commander-in-chief than Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Harris stated: \u201cI will always honor&#8230; America\u2019s fallen heroes&#8230; I will never politicize them.\u201d She emphasized that Arlington National Cemetery is a solemn place meant for honoring heroes rather than engaging in politics.<\/p>\n<p>The coordinated effort to discredit Trump&#8217;s attendance did not sit well with those Gold Star families who invited him. Jaclyn Schmitz, mother of Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, accused Harris of using their grief as political leverage: \u201cYou have never walked a single day in our shoes&#8230; Our kids were murdered because of your administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris claimed she was present when decisions regarding Afghanistan were made; however, many family members noted that neither she nor Biden had reached out over three years since their losses.<\/p>\n<p>Sergeant Nicole Gee\u2019s mother-in-law questioned why Harris wouldn\u2019t personally express condolences or explain how she could label her daughter-in-law\u2019s death as successful while failing to communicate with grieving families like hers.<\/p>\n<p>Jim McCollum, father of Lance Corporal Rylee McCollum, expressed frustration over being ignored by Harris: \u201cYou\u2019ve proven you\u2019re not capable\u201d both as vice president and potentially as president.<\/p>\n<p>Darin Hoover remarked that unlike Harris, Trump has consistently supported them since their sons&#8217; deaths due to what they perceive as negligence from her administration.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Schmitz clarified that Trump&#8217;s attendance wasn\u2019t merely about his campaign but stemmed from genuine leadership needs unmet by Biden and Harris: \u201cWe wanted a leader.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite claiming superiority in honoring military service members compared to Trump, Gold Star families pointed out it was her incompetence leading up to their losses they held responsible for their pain\u2014accusing her instead of showing empathy or respect towards them throughout these years.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than amplifying these heartfelt testimonies from Gold Star families\u2019 experiences with loss under current leadership conditions; outlets like The New York Times framed it instead through partisan lenses suggesting they served merely as tools within Trump&#8217;s campaign strategy against Democrats<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":490,"featured_media":2336064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/53892297685_5a3a4b2a2a_o-scaled-e1725369907121.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[39660,33526,39405,39975],"class_list":["post-2336063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-arlington-cemetery","tag-gold-star-families","tag-military-families","tag-veteran-service"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/53892297685_5a3a4b2a2a_o-scaled-e1725369907121.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2336063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2336063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2336063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2336064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2336063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2336063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2336063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}