'So heartless': Gold Star mother rips Biden to shreds over what he said after her Marine son died in Afghanistan withdrawal

Gold Star families of the 13 military service members killed outside the Kabul airport during the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal nearly two years ago blasted President Joe Biden on Monday.

During a congressional forum hosted by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the families demanded that Biden provide more answers about why their loved ones died outside the Abbey Gate on Aug. 26, 2021. One mother in particular — Cheryl Rex, who lost her son Marine Lance Corporal Dylan Merola — revealed what Biden told her after her son's death.

According to Rex, the president offered sympathies by redirecting her grief back at himself.

"When Joe Biden, our elected president, entered the room, when he approached me, his words to me were, 'My wife Jill and I know how you feel. We lost our son as well and brought him home in a flag-draped coffin,'" Rex recounted. "My heart started beating faster and I started shaking, knowing that their son died from cancer and they were able to be by his side."

The remarks left Rex perplexed as to how someone could "be so heartless," because he made them just 24 hours after her son's murder.

"After this encounter, I have never had any personal correspondence, nor has my son been honored or his name spoken by this commander in chief or his administration, on what I feel is because of their failures and poor planning to exit our troops from Afghanistan," she said.

Gold Star families give first-ever testimony on Afghanistan withdrawalwww.youtube.com

The common theme among the families at Monday's forum was they feel the Biden administration has not been honest about what happened on the day of the bombing.

Kelly Barnett, mother of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, for example, said the families were fed "lies, given incomplete reports, incorrect reports, total disrespect." She said officials told her that her son died immediately. But she later learned from eyewitnesses that her son "lived for a little while."

Rex, meanwhile, said she heard from Marines who served with her son that Abbey Gate was targeted in a "complex attack," not a suicide bombing as officials claimed.

Not only did the parents blast the Biden administration for dodging accountability and allegedly lying, but parents criticized government officials for claiming the Afghanistan evacuation was successful.

Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, said such proclamations are "like a knife in the heart" and described them as "the ultimate disrespect."

The event was the first time the families were allowed the opportunity to address members of the government. Their remarks will officially be entered into the congressional record, Issa explained before family members spoke.

The Defense Department, when asked for comment about the stinging criticism, refused to address it.

"The Department of Defense expresses our deepest condolences to the Gold Star Families who lost loved ones during the tragic bombing at Abbey Gate. We are forever grateful for their service, sacrifice, and committed efforts during the evacuation operations," the Pentagon said in a statement, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

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