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My name is Darren Hoover, and I'm the Gold Star Father of the United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover. Kamala, I want you to understand, and I know it will be difficult for you because you lack empathy and basic understanding. The events that happened on August 26, 2024 with President Trump at Arlington National Cemetery were solemn, and in keeping with the reverence and respect that is given to all members of our military that are buried there, we invited President Trump. We are the ones that asked for the video and the pictures to be taken at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was a very solemn wreath laying in our son's name, along with the Sergeant Nicole G. Family, as well as two of our catastrophically injured military members that were there on that horrific day in the honor of our Abbey Gate 13. We then moved to the gravesite where our children are buried. Again, we asked the Trump team to take the videos, take the pictures of our time there. President Trump then laid a wreath at the grave side of Army Staff Sergeant Ryan Christian Canouse. There he talked to both his mother and father. President Trump then moved to our son's grave where we were surrounded by our family and friends, where we talked about Taylor and his sacrifice to this country. Let me be clear. There was no politics discussed, none whatsoever. There was also not an assault that we observed take place, or did we hear it? I don't know where this is coming from, but it's disgusting and gross. President Trump has been there for us from the very beginning when our son and the other 12 of his brothers and sisters in arms were murdered due to your negligence and uncaring attitude towards our military. Don't forget Kamala, you were the last one in the room. You and Joe Biden made the final decision on how to pull out of Afghanistan. You created the chaos in mayhem for the military to accomplish their goals. Our sons and daughters made the best of a difficult situation as they had been trained to do. They adapted and overcame all of that and came out as heroes, something that you will never know or understand. Kamala, we have been treated with the utmost respect, compassion, and understanding by President Trump. Something you and Joe Biden have refused to do since August 26, 2021. Where were you and Joe Biden on August 26, 2024? Nowhere near Arlington Cemetery. You couldn't be bothered to be with us or even say our kids names, just as you had done for the last three years. Neither one of you have called to speak with us or share in our grief. I wonder Kamala, do you sleep at night securely in your bed or do you have nightmares of our kids because it was your incompetence and negligence that got our kids murdered? It is you who sends out messages on social media that are outright lies. It is you that has disrespected our families. It is you who knows nothing about service and sacrifice. It is you that has divided this country and it is you who is unfit to be the commander in chief. These are the only memories we get to make with our son and it is you who is playing politics and trying to detract from our memories made that day. You should be ashamed and embarrassed that your lack of empathy and decency as a human being. You are only in this for the power and prestige. You don't care for our military or the citizens of this country. You should hang your head in shame at your actions or lack thereof. You need to move aside, get out of the way and stop hindering the progress, growth and independence of this great nation.

Transcribed automatically. Expect errors in names and numbers.

President Trump published a statement on Truth Social from five family members, thanking him for making the visit and saying, "We are deeply grateful to the president for taking the time to honor our children and for standing alongside us in our grief, offering his unwavering support during such a difficult time." Joining me now is one of those family members, Kristi Shamblin, mother-in-law of Marine Corps Sergeant Nicole Gee. Gee, aged 23, was deployed to Afghanistan where she served as a female engagement team member to help facilitate evacuation support for Afghan women and children. She was killed in a suicide attack along with 12 other service members that day leaving behind a husband. Kristi, thank you so much for being here. Please tell me about Nicole. Oh, thank you for having me. Nicole was a ray of light. She was an encourager. She believed in having a positive mental attitude, and she was so very proud to be serving on with the FET team in Afghanistan. She was very, very proud to serve there, and they all worked so hard to get the most vulnerable out of that country before, you know, certain death. And we're very proud of her. And we want to continue on her legacy and being encouraging and having a positive mental attitude. I'm so sorry for your loss, and I'm trying to understand what exactly went on on Monday. You wanted the former president there. By the way, I think it's a wonderful thing that he was there, reflective and honoring our war dead. But it crossed a line at some point. How do you see it? Well, first, I want to remind everybody that it's really hard to find a way on August 26 to celebrate, and we want to celebrate our heroes. We invited both President Trump and the Biden Harris administration, and we didn't hear back from the White House. We were happy to welcome President Trump to lay wreaths with all three of our families and our wounded, some of our wounded from that day. And when he came to Section 60, it was at our request to spend time with our loved ones. There was not a presence there. We privately took pictures among ourselves. And it was, you know, a more celebratory feeling for that day, because, you know, we want to celebrate our loved ones. And it's very hard to find ways to do that, you know, at a cemetery. But they were very respectful. We didn't see any altercation. And really, we just want our loved ones to be honored and remembered in a positive way. So I hear and respect all of that. At the same time, I have to say he should not have used the video that was recorded in TikTok for a campaign purpose. Can we agree on that? I'm not on TikTok. So I don't know what it is. But yeah, you know, there's no political campaigning that was done at Section 60 that day. Right. It was a respectful time. I'm showing I'm showing I'm showing what was put on TikTok so that the audience can see it. And I recognize you might not be able to see it. We didn't lose one person in 18 months, says the narration, and then they took over that disaster. The leaving of Afghanistan. We lost 13 great, great people. I mean, it's got a message of saying I did right by our soldiers and he Biden or Biden and Harris did not. I mean, up until that point, I like I like get it. It's great that he's there. Family members want pictures. Terrific. Take the pictures, do whatever the family members want. But he shouldn't have put it on TikTok for a political purpose. Well, you know, I just have to go back to we really just want our kids to be remembered and honored. And it's unfortunate that we can't get that, you know, in other ways. So we support President Trump and he supported us. A final question, if I might, do you worry that the issue, the legitimate issue of the way in which we left Afghanistan and the circumstances three years ago at Abbey Gate now sort of diminishes as an issue, because when people think of Afghanistan, the withdrawal, it'll be the controversy over Arlington instead of a very appropriate focus on the death of those 13 final thought on that. I think our media needs to do a better job of focusing on the Afghanistan withdrawal instead of things like this that aren't really relevant or or important. I mean, we were very respectful. I understand that there may have been, you know, a little bit of a misunderstanding, but we'd like to take the focus back to just like you said, let's talk about how we left all the equipment behind. Let's talk about the Americans and the Afghans we left behind. Let's talk about the people we brought over that weren't vetted. Let's talk about the wounded. And that's what we want to bring focus back to. I appreciate that because that's exactly what we want. You know, the American people to focus on. We want our armed service members to be safer. We will have another evacuation. And if we don't start to focus on how to fix this, it will end in more casualties. And that's unacceptable. Christy Godspeed to you, your family in particular, your son. Thank you for being here. Thank you very much.

Transcribed automatically. Expect errors in names and numbers.