The first-ever presidential debate was held at CNN’s Atlanta studio where the two major candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump locked horns over each other’s competence. While the president and the former president made several claims, showing the voters who’s the fittest for the role, Biden made a claim about the American troops dying which turned out to be not true.
After some back and forth about who’s more capable, Biden tried to overrule Trump’s claims about how his presidency was good for the United States military . “The idea that he did something significant for the military when he was president they were still killing people in Afghanistan – he didn’t do anything about that,” the 81-year-old Democrat said.
President @JoeBiden stops to greet supporters lining the streets in downtown Atlanta on his way to the @CNN Presidential Debate. #Georgia #Atlanta #BidenHarris2024 🇺🇸 https://t.co/EPMQhP96pC https://t.co/PHJi0ztyBN pic.twitter.com/HlzVAnH9AB
— Jane (@PlaintanJane) June 27, 2024
He continued, “When he was president we still found ourselves in a position where you had a notion that we were this safe country. The truth is, I’m the only president this century, that doesn’t have any – this decade – that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world, like he did.”
This decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan. It’s about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 1, 2021
Biden quickly corrected his mistake from century to decade as the American invasion of Afghanistan didn’t begin until 2001. Nonetheless, his claims were still untrue as he forgot about the 13 American soldiers who lost their lives in the suicide bombing during the evacuation of Afghanistan. Among the 13 troops that died were 11 Marines, one navy medic, and 90 Afghans in the bombing on August 26, 2021.
President Biden: “These American service-members who gave their lives — it’s an overused word, but it’s totally appropriate here — were heroes. Heroes who’ve been engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others.”
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 26, 2021
The Democrat addressed the killing of the troops back in 2021 by saying, “These American service members who gave their lives — it’s an overused word, but it’s totally appropriate here — were heroes. Heroes who’ve been engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others.”
“They were part of an airlift, an evacuation effort unlike any seen in history… They were part of the bravest, most capable, and the most selfless military on the face of the Earth,” Biden said in his statement back then. To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command.”
I said we would go after the group responsible for the attack on our troops and innocent civilians in Kabul, and we have. My full statement on the strike that U.S. forces took last night against the terrorist group ISIS-K in Afghanistan: https://t.co/hOb6xQ4ZZv
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 28, 2021
Subsequently, he updated the Americans with a tweet on X, formerly Twitter, that he fulfilled his promise of hunting down those who killed the troops and wrote, “I said we would go after the group responsible for the attack on our troops and innocent civilians in Kabul, and we have. My full statement on the strike that U.S. forces took last night against the terrorist group ISIS-K in Afghanistan,” attaching a White House statement.
Meanwhile, Biden’s political rival Trump made many false claims during the first presidential debate like only a “small number of people showed up on Jan. 6 Capitol Riots,” “$15 insul shot instead of $400,” best “environmental numbers” under his presidency, and so on, as per AP News.