President Joe Biden, alongside his wife Jill Biden, entered the hospital room of wounded Marine Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews. They had flowers with them. After shaking hands with Tyler’s mother, Biden began talking about losing his son Beau and his time in the service.
The president, Vargas-Andrews said, made no mention of the Afghanistan withdrawal in which he had nearly lost his life. It was unclear if his Commander-in-Chief was directly addressing him at all.
“[Then] Joe comes over to me, and he leans over, and he just sticks out his right hand, and my left arm is wrapped up in the cast. My right arm is not there, and I’m just looking at him. And he doesn’t even say anything. I’m just like, ‘I don’t have an arm,’” Vargas-Andrews said.
Without saying anything, Biden walked over to a few of Vargas-Andrews’ fingers sticking out from his cast and held onto them.
Vargas-Andrews was severely wounded when a suicide bomber detonated himself outside Abbey Gate during the U.S. evacuation from Kabul, Afghanistan. This week, he sat with the Daily Caller for roughly an hour to recount his experience meeting the president, being shunned by the woman who wants to replace him, and coming face-to-face with death.
Vice President Kamala Harris explained during ABC News’ presidential debate that she supported Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021.