Republicans used the deaths of 13 American service members during the chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in 2021 to criticize President Biden’s handling of foreign policy and national security.
“They were just kind of left there, hung out to dry,” Cheryl Juels, whose niece, Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, was one of the 13 troops who were killed, said in a video appearance.
And in an anguished tribute onstage, relatives of several service members who were killed when a suicide bomb exploded at a gate to the airport in Kabul in August 2021 blamed Mr. Biden for the situation. The families held photographs of their fallen loved ones and received a standing ovation from former President Donald J. Trump and thousands of G.O.P. delegates.
Mr. Biden has repeatedly expressed heartbreak over the deaths of those troops. He also traveled to Dover Air Force Base to receive their remains, and met privately with their family members beforehand.
Mr. Trump has frequently criticized Mr. Biden over how he handled the situation in Afghanistan, after Mr. Biden made the final decision in 2021 to withdraw America’s military from Afghanistan, ending an occupation of nearly 20 years. But it was Mr. Trump who clinched a deal with the Afghan Taliban, setting a timeline for America’s exit.
Still, on a night focused on foreign policy, Afghanistan repeatedly came up. And it was used it to assail Mr. Biden and cast him as weak and mismanaging military operations.
The Biden campaign referred requests for comment on Wednesday night to Adrienne Watson, a National Security Council spokeswoman.
“President Biden cares deeply about our service members, their families, and the immense sacrifices they have made,” Ms. Watson said in a statement. She added: “As he said then and continues to believe now: Our country owes them a great deal of gratitude and a debt that we can never repay, and we will continue to honor their ultimate sacrifice.”
Christy Shamblin, Sergeant Gee’s mother-in-law, told delegates on Wednesday night that Mr. Trump had spent six hours with her and other family members of troops killed in Afghanistan at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J.
“I had expected to meet an arrogant politician,” she said. “Instead, I met a man who had empathy for us.”
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