House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he "wanted to correct one thing about the record" following Thursday night's presidential debate and blasted President Joe Biden for making the false claim that no U.S. servicemembers have been killed on his watch.
"President Biden showed last night that he was weak — sadly — that he is feeble...and he said a number of things that are just demonstrably untrue," Speaker Johnson told reporters Friday on Capitol Hill.
One that stuck out to him as the "most staggering" was his claim that, "on his watch, we have not lost any American troops."
"Obviously, that is not true," Speaker Johnson reminded. "I wanted to read 13 names, by way of example, that he seems to have forgotten already — which is really shocking and sad."
"Apparently, he's already forgotten about the 13 American heroes that were lost with his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan," emphasized Speaker Johnson. "These are their names, Mr. President, these are their names."
The Speaker then read the names of those killed amid Biden's catastrophic pullout:
- Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah
- Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts
- Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California
- Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, California
- Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska
- Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Missouri
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyoming
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California
- Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio
- Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee
NEW: @SpeakerJohnson on Biden's debate performance:
— Edgar A Barrios (@Edgar_A_Barrios) June 28, 2024
"President Biden showed last night that he was weak, sadly, that he is feeble. He said a number of things that are demonstrably untrue." pic.twitter.com/4JoLv1bfx9
Biden not only forgot the 13 heroes of Kabul, but he also forgot the more recent loss of three Army reservists in northern Jordan killed by Iran-backed terrorists whom Biden has emboldened with his weakness:
- Sgt. William Jerome Rivers of Carrollton, Georgia
- Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders of Waycross, Georgia (posthumously promoted to Sergeant)
- Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett of Savannah, Georgia (posthumously promoted to Sergeant)
Biden attended both dignified transfer ceremonies when these heroes were returned to U.S. soil after giving their lives in service to our country. At the first, the president couldn't be bothered to show respect and kept checking his watch. Yet Biden — the commander-in-chief — doesn't remember those events or the names of those who died on his watch.
Whether it's that the president's memory is truly that far gone — as Special Counsel Robert Hur's report suggested by noting Biden could not remember when he served as vice president or when his son Beau died — or that Biden's claim that no troops have died on his watch was a shameless attempt at self-preservation, it's unforgivable to discard these heroes' sacrifice.