Multiple Amputee Marine Describes Surreal Meeting With Biden

U.S. Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews lost a leg and arm from a suicide bomber at Hamid Karzai International Airport during the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Testifying on Capitol Hill, Vargas-Andrews told lawmakers that snipers could’ve dispatched the Kabul airport bomber – but they weren’t allowed to. Instead, an explosion and subsequent gunfire killed at least 183 people — including 13 American soldiers.

In an appearance on a popular podcast hosted by former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan, Vargas-Andrews described meeting President Joe Biden at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The president reportedly asked “What do you want,” after clasping the grievously injured Marine’s sole remaining hand. (RELATED: Canada Demands Navy SEAL Delete Video of Sniper – Is This Why?)

Fox News has more on the meeting that left Vargas-Andrews’ mother infuriated:

Vargas-Andrews said he was asked by the generals who visited him in the hospital whether he wanted to meet the president so he could be thanked for his service. Hesitant and still sedated from the medication he was taking, he welcomed the idea.

“I told them, I was like, hold all of my opioids, like hold all of my narcotics and stuff. Like I want to be coherent when I meet him,” Vargas-Andrews recalled as he awaited a visit from Biden. “They held all my pain meds.”

Despite being told the president would see him in an hour, it took four times as long for Biden to arrive. In pain and discombobulated, Vargas-Andrews forgot who the president was by the time Secret Service agents arrived. Minutes later, Biden entered only to struggle with figuring out how to properly greet the bed-ridden soldier after he informed the president his right hand was gone. Biden eventually grasped the fingers on Vargas-Andrews’ left hand.

“[Biden] almost immediately starts talking about how their son served in the military. [He] doesn’t say anything about what happened, just starts talking about how their son served in the military,” Vargas-Andrews recounted to Shawn Ryan. At one point, Biden leaned in toward Vargas-Andrews and asked him what he wanted. The broken Marine recalled his bewildered reaction: “I’m just like confused. I just got blown up. I just saw my f—ing friends die next to me. I’m like, ‘I just want to be myself.’” Possibly confused, the president replied with monosyllabic “Huh.” Barely able to contain her anger, Vargas-Andrews’ mother reiterated her distraught son’s wish: “He just wants to be himself. He just wants to be him.”

Her emphasis seemed to get through to Biden, whose handlers soon ushered him out of the room. But her frustration with the White House continued, as Fox notes:

Vargas-Andrews said his mother later reached out to the first lady in an attempt to help get legislation passed to assist caretakers financially. He said they “pretended to help” and that his mother was later “brushed off.”

Vargas-Andrews said they “pretended like they were connecting her to the right individuals and didn’t f—ing help her at all.”

Vargas-Andrews made headlines on March 8 when he testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the Kabul airlift. (RELATED: Officer Details Marines’ Chaotic Final Days In Afghanistan)

Despite having a window of opportunity to shoot the suicide bomber before he detonated his explosive belt on August 26, 2021 at Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey Gate, Vargas-Andrew’s sniper team received stand-down orders from their battalion commander who didn’t know who held authority for approval to eliminate the threat.

The confusion came hours after U.S. intelligence warned of a highly credible threat of attack at the airport. Intelligence officers even provided soldiers with a description of the suspected bomber. According to Vargas-Andrews, the suspect wasn’t apprehended earlier because he was an asset who “could not be compromised.” The maimed soldier recounted how State Department officials turned Afghans away en masse at the airport gates, likely condemning many of them to death.

The chaos highlighted the nature of the botched withdrawal, which plunged Afghanistan into further chaos.

“No one was held accountable,” Vargas told the committee. “No one was, and no one is, to this day.”

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