REGIME MEDIA: The Sunday Shows Defend Biden-Harris Against Abbey Gate Families

Jorge Bonilla
September 1st, 2024 10:37 PM

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Across the Sunday TV dial, the political affairs shows sought to provide political cover for the Biden-Harris Administration’s neglect of the families of the 13 service members killed during the ISIS-K attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26th, 2021. The four major shows did this by continuing to scandalize former President Donald Trump’s visit to the Arlington National Cemetery.

On CNN State of the Union, Dana Bash engaged former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard in a lengthy exchange (click “expand):

CNN STATE OF THE UNION

9/1/24

9:33 AM

DANA BASH: But I do want to move on to what is happening with regard to controversy after the former president visited Arlington National Cemetery this week. His campaign took photos and video of him in Section 60, where veterans and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried, used it in a campaign video. The Army also says that Trump staffers abruptly pushed aside a cemetery official who tried to enforce Arlington rules prohibiting political activities. I know you were with Trump at least earlier in that day, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Did you witness the altercation at section 60? 

TULSI GABBARD: I was there from the beginning with the laying of the wreath with the family members, the Gold Star family members, and some of the survivors of that terrorist attack in that disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. I was with them at Section 60, and what I saw was a very grave and somber remembrance and honoring of those lives that were lost. And I saw President Trump spending time at the invitation of these Gold Star families, with them. He was there for a few hours. I did not see or hear about any kind of altercation until something came out in the news later on. The families were there grieving alongside President Trump and it was a very special moment to really remember their names, remember their memories, and understand the true cost of war and end the consequences of the decisions that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden made in the execution of that withdrawal.

BASH: Yeah, and it is very clear that the former president was invited in his personal capacity, as you said, by a family of one of the service members who was killed about about two years ago- yeah- during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The question…

GABBARD: Three years ago.

BASH: Thank you, three years ago.

GABBARD: Three years ago to the day on August 26th.  

BASH: Three years ago. The question is about the federal law and Arlington’s rules that prohibit partisan or political activities at national cemeteries and the military, and also other members of other families who are buried right near there are upset about the campaign filming it and posting the video online. Do you believe that was appropriate?

GABBARD: You know, I checked with the campaign on this question and they have exchanges with the officials at Arlington Cemetery. They were approved to bring a camera there to document this historic and momentous day that should not be forgotten by any American, and to have a former President there and joining these gold star families, I know President Trump wanted to share that with others, especially given the fact that President Biden, Harris, I heard were invited by some of these family members. They not only didn't come, they didn't even respond to that invitation and now to have Kamala Harris put this statement out yesterday saying that she stands with these families. She stands with the military and with veterans. You only have to look at the response that came from the Gold Star families of these 13 service members of how offended they were by that statement, given she has not made any effort- not on that third anniversary or any other time, to call them directly to offer her condolences and even apologies for their decisions that led to the loss of their loved ones.

BASH: Do you think that the campaign will release that communication that you're talking about? Because the Army is saying…

GABBARD: I thought they already had. But…

BASH: …very clearly that that was- that they broke the rules because it was clearly put out- online pictures, video, meant as a part of his campaign.

GABBARD: I thought they already had. I was informed that they had come to an agreement. They could bring a camera there. And as far as I know, in the public statements I've seen from the Army, is that the matter is closed.

BASH: I think the matter is closed about the altercation- alleged altercation which you didn't see, but I'm not sure it's closed with the idea that they seemed to have broken the rules and perhaps even federal law by putting out the campaign video I want to ask you about…

GABBARD: Here’s- I’d just like to say one last thing on this because I think it's important and I've seen a lot of the headlines and the stories and the concerns that people are raising about this. But to me as, as a soldier and as someone who has been deployed to different war zones in the world and I have friends who are buried there at Section 60. What is more outrageous to me is that there wasn't universal coverage of the momentous day of the third anniversary of the loss of these 13 Gold Star families. And the outrage that they feel that their loved ones are not getting the kind of coverage and memory that their great sacrifice deserves. That- that is what everyone should be outraged about.

BASH: Well, yeah, we have covered the horrible, horrible events three years ago and I've done so several times over and over again, so I appreciate you talking about their memories because it is important.

Bash was repeatedly rebuffed by Gabbard on the non-scandal, and wanted no part of acknowledging the Gold Star families’ heated response to Kamala Harris’s ill-fated X post regarding Trump’s visit to Arlington.

NBC’s Kristen Welker ran the same play with Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) on Meet the Press:

NBC MEET THE PRESS

9/1/24

10:17 AM

KRISTEN WELKER: Let me ask you about another one of the big headlines this week. Donald Trump's visit to Arlington National Cemetery. You've been talking about this. He attended a wreath-laying ceremony, obviously, for the 13 service members who were killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He was invited by those family members- important to say that. He also had campaign staffers with him, photos and videos were posted on a campaign site. Taking campaign photos and videos at gravesites is forbidden under federal law. You, of course, served at Arlington Cemetery in the Old Guard so I know that this is a sacred place for you. Bottom line though, I guess, Senator: is it ever appropriate to make campaign content at military gravesites?

TOM COTTON: He didn’t take campaign photos there. The families- these Gold Star families, whose children died because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' incompetence, invited him to the cemetery. And they asked him to take those photos. Because as they told me yesterday, when I spoke to Kelly Barnett and Darin Hoover- the parents of Taylor Hoover, who has Arkansas ties. They don't get to go to the beach on Labor Day. They don’t get to have barbecues. This is their one chance to have a memory of their children- to commemorate their service and honor their sacrifice. They wanted President Trump there. They wanted to take those photos. You know who the families also invited? Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Where were they? Joe Biden was sitting at a beach. Kamala Harris was sitting at her mansion in Washington, D.C. She was four miles away, ten minutes. She could have gone to the cemetery and honored the sacrifice of those young men and women, but she hasn't. She never has spoken to them or taken a meeting with them.

WELKER: Well, they did meet with them during the dignified transfer. 

COTTON: It’s because of her…

WELKER: They were with them at the dignified transfer.

COTTON: …her and Joe Biden’s incompetence that those 13 Americans were killed in Afghanistan.

This exchange was shorter than Bash-Gabbard but ran along similar lines. Welker went overboard with her firefighting, by falsely implying that Harris was at the Dignified Transfer of the 13 American service members. She was not present at the event, which is remembered mostly for Joe Biden’s incessant looking at his watch during the ceremony. NBC had to issue a clean-up post on X:

But, to be fair, such a clarification should be issued on-air, where the lie was told.

On CBS Face the Nation Nancy Cordes, sitting in for Margaret Brennan, tried to run the same playbook with Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales:

CBS FACE THE NATION

9/1/24

11:14 AM

NANCY CORDES: You served in the Navy for 20 years. And as a veteran, I want to get your take on what happened this week at Arlington National Cemetery. The Secretary of the Army felt that she had to put out a statement saying that an ANC employee- an Arlington National Cemetery employee who attempted to ensure adherence to the rules, was abruptly pushed aside when the Trump campaign tried to bring a campaign photographer on to the grounds with the former president. And then, a top Trump adviser posted, even after that, “I am reposting this to hope to trigger the hacks at the Secretary of the Army's office”. Have you seen a campaign talk this way about the military?

TONY GONZALES:  You know, the funny thing about President Trump is he gets all the attention. And no matter what he does, sometimes that gets spun this way or the other. I can tell you that veterans…

CORDES: That's not spin. That's his own campaign staff.

GONZALES: Well, I can tell you veterans support Trump far and away. And the fact that he was there to highlight that the 13 Americans that were killed at Abbey Gate, I think that’s something that's overlooked. Once again, I served in Afghanistan. Unlike Tim Walz, who did not serve in Afghanistan, I've been there. I retired as an E-9. Unlike Tim Walz who retired as an E-8. It’s important for us to show up…

CORDES: Wait, are you saying- I’m just curious, when you compare your service to Tim Walz, are you saying that he's somehow less of a veteran?

GONZALES: I’m saying he lied about what pay grade he retired at. And I’m saying I’m not lying about the pay grade I retired at. I'm also saying it's important that we- Arlington is a very special place.

CORDES: It is.

GONZALES: We have to make sure it's a special place. And we have to keep politics out of it. And I think it's important we do that. And so- I mean, I wish both President Trump and President Biden were there, highlighting the fact of these Gold Star families. This is what we need to get back to. So much finger-pointing. I get it. It's towards the tail end of the election. But we have to get back to putting veterans first, putting our families first, and putting the American people above everything else.

CORDES: Congressman Tony Gonzales of Texas, thank you so much for being here with us this morning, I appreciate it.

GONZALES: Thanks, Nancy.

What varies here is that Gonzales worked in a shot at the circumstances of Tim Walz’s retirement, which Cordes felt the need to jump in and defend as well.

Jon Karl, hosting ABC This Week, also took a shot at the Arlington non-scandal with Senator Lindsey Graham:

ABC THIS WEEK

9/1/24

11:14 AM

JON KARL: Let me ask you about this incident at Arlington National Cemetery. Obviously I know President- former President Trump was invited by the families to be there, but here's the statement that the Army has put out about what happened. They say participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations, and DoD policies which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An Arlington National Cemetery employee who attempted to ensure the adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside, this incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that that employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. Did the campaign- did the campaign cross a line here?

LINDSEY GRAHAM: You know, I don't know. I think we need to, you know, I'm all for looking at what happened, but you know what really is unfortunate? That these families had to go visit their- their fallen loved ones at Arlington due to incompetence by the Biden administration. You know, I've tried to work with President Biden to get Saudi Arabia and Israel to reconcile. I've supported a lot of their nominations- nominees. I've known President Biden for a long time, but Vice President Harris bragged about being the last person in the room, cheerleading the withdrawal of all forces that led to the death of these 13. A rise in terrorism, combine that with a broken border- another 9/11 is coming our way. So what I take away from this whole debate about Arlington is why they died, how they died, and the incompetency that led to their death. To the American people: we've lost deterrence. Nobody in the world is afraid of Kamala Harris. She has become, in my view, ineffective in terms of a voice for America. So if you want to avoid more dead Americans, vote for Trump. 

Graham, rather than dignifying Karl's transparent Regime shilling, redirected the question into a broader attack on the Biden-Harris administration’s policies.

The Regime Media tried, across their most prominent Sunday talk shows, to insist on this contrived “scandal”. But the real scandal remains the treatment accorded to the Abbey Gate families by the Biden-Harris administration subsequent to the gross negligence that led to the ISIS-K attack on Abbey Gate.

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