Two Gold Star fathers joined Newsmax on Friday and said the vilification of Republican nominee Donald Trump over the Arlington National Cemetery flap has poured "more salt to the wound" of military families who lost loved ones in Afghanistan three years ago.
Mark Schmitz and Steve Nikoui joined "Rob Schmitt Tonight" to talk about the mainstream media criticism of Trump in the wake of his attendance at the wreath-laying ceremony Monday to honor the 13 American service members killed at Abbey Gate three years ago.
"They're simply trying to paint it as if Trump uses this as a campaign ploy to, to gain votes. And it couldn't be further from the truth," said Schmitz, who lost his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, in the suicide bombing on Aug. 26, 2021.
While the White House issued a press release, it was Trump who was at Arlington at the request of the families.
"It was in honor of a situation that was caused by that administration. So for them to, you know, void any responsibility is their goal. And this is one of the ways that they are doing it," said Nikoui, who lost his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui.
Trump has given voice to the Gold Star families, something they've said they have not been able to get from the Biden-Harris administration.
"If you look back to when we asked the White House to get together and have a family roundtable with them to discuss everything that happened, it was crickets. There was no reply whatsoever," Mark Schmitz told guest host Lidia Curanaj. "We asked that of Trump, he said absolutely. He was going to give us two hours — ended up being six hours. The man was a leader.
"And for them to turn this around and make it look like it was just a political stunt is, quite frankly, a kick in the you-know-what to the families," Schmitz added. "They're trying to hurt Trump, ultimately, but what they're doing is just adding more salt to the wound for us. And these families wanted Trump there. And I'm glad that he was there."
Steve Nikoui added: "Shame on some of those organizations, organizations who have spoken out about it, some of these, veterans organizations or something. They're doing exactly what they're claiming we're doing or what they're claim that the president was doing was using it as a political ploy."
"And I asked to them, where were they when, you know, neither this administration, the vice president or the president, has ever done the same thing; they've never honored our kids. Where is their same outrage for that?" Nikoui asked.
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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