Veterans confront Biden

Veterans Confront Biden on War record at Oakland Super Tuesday Stopover from About Face on Vimeo.


On March 3, 2020 at around 12:00 pacific standard time, only moments after Presidential hopeful Joe Biden addressed voters at the Buttercup Diner in Oakland, California saying he believed he would do better than expected on Super Tuesday, he was confronted by two military Veterans who expressed their anger about Biden’s vote in favor of the Iraq war and ongoing opposition to fully ending the decades long wars and withdrawing United States troops, stressing that those disastrous choices should disqualify him for the presidency.

In the video of the encounter Michael Thurman, an Air Force Veteran and conscientious objector, asks Biden “why should we vote for someone who voted for a war that killed thousands of our brothers and sisters and countless Iraqi civilians?” He went on to stress, “you enabled that war. You also gave a medal to the man who caused that war. That blood is on your hands as well” referencing the ceremony on Veterans Day in 2018 when Biden presented George W. Bush with the Liberty Medal for his “support for veterans.”

Joe Biden responded by mentioning that his son was also dead and stating “it matters to me a lot” presumably in reference to wars and then turning his back on the veterans to walk away. In the past, Joe Biden has been criticized for leveraging his son’s death both for political gain and to sidestep tough questions about his commitment to following through on promises to end the wars. Beau Biden deployed to Iraq in 2008 and later died from cancer in 2015. Joe Biden was quoted in 2007 saying “I don’t want him going, but I tell you what, I don’t want my grandson or my granddaughters going back in 15 years and so how we leave makes a big difference.” Years later while campaigning in 2012, Joe Biden famously stated, “We leave Afghanistan in 2014, period.” Biden has promised again to end the wars this campaign cycle, but has failed to present a clear plan and expressly opposes complete withdrawal.

Thurman was joined by another veteran who deployed to Afghanistan with the Army in 2012 during Biden’s tenure as Vice President. Both are members of About Face: Veterans Against the War (formerly known as Iraq Veterans Against the War), a grassroots organization made up of post 9/11 military veterans advocating for an end to the wars in which many of them participated.