President Biden ignored the chaotic, deadly Afghanistan withdrawal at his first State of the Union address, leading Republicans to sharply criticize the president.
Biden skipped over potentially the biggest foreign policy mar on his first year in office that saw 13 American servicemembers die in a suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport.
The president only touched on Afghanistan briefly in his remarks, not mentioning the deadly withdrawal at all in his remarks and instead focusing on soldiers being exposed to toxic chemicals, possibly including, he suggested, his deceased son Beau Biden.
President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Washington as Vice President Kamala Harris and House speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., look on. (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via AP) (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via AP)
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"A cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin," Biden said of the soldiers who died.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., jabbed at Biden over the Afghanistan snub, yelling out "13 of them" after the president’s line to a "flag-draped coffin," referencing the 13 servicemembers killed in the Kabul suicide bombing amid the botched withdrawal.
The jab elicited boos from several of Boebert's Democrat colleagues, with Biden continuing on in his speech to talk about his son.
"One of those soldiers was my son Major Beau Biden," Biden said. "We don’t know for sure if a burn pit was the cause of his brain cancer, or the diseases of so many of our troops."
"But I’m committed to finding out everything we can," he continued.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also criticized BIden for not mentioning the Afghanistan withdrawal in his speech.
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"To the 13 American families who lost loved ones in Afghanistan in August, you deserved to be recognized by the President tonight," McCarthy wrote on Twitter.
"Americans remember your sacrifice, and we are forever indebted to you."
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