Speaking to a crowd in Colorado yesterday, President Joe Biden said that his late son, Beau, had “lost his life in Iraq.” That is, of course, not true.
President @JoeBiden incorrectly said his late son Beau "lost his life in Iraq." https://t.co/oZ9GRyRjcI pic.twitter.com/8OvjbQgUaT
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 12, 2022
We’re not sure if he was lying on purpose or is actually too senile to remember that Beau died of glioblastoma multiforme, brain cancer. Neither option is comforting or encouraging.
And for someone like Marine vet and Wounded Warrior Joey Jones, Biden’s remarks are just straight-up terrible.
I’ll have words. For now, it’s best I stay quiet. https://t.co/WW7VDjvDPj
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) October 13, 2022
Jones may have stayed quiet last night, but today, he’s ready to have those words he promised:
My friend Dave was blown up in Afghanistan. He lost both legs and had several lingering injuries. 5 years after his injury he died from a heart attack. Doctors believe it was a blood clot. If Dave wasn’t “Killed In Action.” Beau Biden certainly didn’t “die in Iraq”. Disgraceful! https://t.co/T6e1k7ZGve
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) October 13, 2022
Joey sounds angry. Can’t say we blame him.
I can not believe Biden said this and people are defending him.. it is sick
— txgirlinva (@TxgirlnVa) October 13, 2022
It’s extremely messed up, that’s for sure. Joe Biden’s remarks make it sound like Beau was killed in combat. By Biden’s logic, any Iraq vet who later dies of cancer” lost their life in Iraq.
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so how did Beau acquire brain cancer?
— Colin Atterson (@colinatterson) October 13, 2022
My sister-in-law never left the US, she died in 2021 of the same type of GBM. So did George Gershwin, Gene Siskel, Tug McGraw, & Ted Kennedy who weren’t around burn pits. It’s affects 14K ppl a year & kills 95% within 5yrs. Who knows how ppl get it.
— Louisa Katalina 🏃🏽♀️🏄🏽♀️🚴🏽♀️ (@lisa41793450) October 13, 2022
These are illnesses Congress has agreed to compensate vets for under the presumption of possible connection to service. A result of lobbying. Feel free to show independent medical science and conclusive research showing burn pits are a known, or even common cause of glioblastoma. https://t.co/6Zx8hLRLPM
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) October 13, 2022
Good luck with that finding it, Colin. Because last time we checked, there wasn’t any.
A few years back, Joe Biden suggested a link between burn pits and brain cancer, though he himself acknowledged that hard scientific evidence was lacking. From 2018:
In what appear to be the two-term vice president’s first public comments about the possibility that his late son Beau Biden’s brain cancer was caused by burn-pit smoke, Biden acknowledged he was unaware of “any direct scientific evidence” of a linkage.
Is Biden now suggesting that Beau’s cancer was caused by the burn pits? That’s the most charitable way to interpret his remarks yesterday, and it would still make him wrong.
Obviously that still wouldn't make it true he died "*in Iraq*", but also Biden himself acknowledges there's no proof of his suspicions, so he really shouldn't go around stating it as settled fact https://t.co/qS2ojjecig
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) October 13, 2022
He really shouldn’t. This is from the same PBS article quoted above, from 2018, but it still applies today to the discussion of burn pits and cancer, particularly brain cancer:
“There is no association that I am aware of,” said Dr. Reid Thompson, professor and chairman of the Neurological Surgery Department at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The theories linking cancer and burn pits are “lots of conjecture.”
“Patients and families often believe that there is an obvious known link between various illness and exposures,” Reid wrote in an email, but he evidence is lacking. “For glioblastoma, the only known risk factor is exposure to ionizing radiation,” Reid said. “For brain tumors — as is true for other diseases — establishing a causal link between an exposure and the illness is really difficult.”
Reid noted that indications of a link between environmental factors and cancers does not necessarily suggest a cause-and-effect relationship for any particular individual. “Undoubtedly there are patients whose unique genetic background may make them uniquely vulnerable to a particular exposure,” Reid said. “Unraveling what the genetic predisposition may be — and what the exposure is for any given patient — is really one of the holy grails of medicine.”
it’s the first one listed. just saying… pic.twitter.com/DqZ0z9u3s6
— Colin Atterson (@colinatterson) October 13, 2022
You’re citing lobbied political legislation. I’m citing medical and scientific reviews. https://t.co/VCFOMQI0l9 https://t.co/aNl9nTrPiO
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) October 13, 2022
so vets who pass after they come home regardless of damage didn’t die from war? Yikes.
got it.
— Colin Atterson (@colinatterson) October 13, 2022
Vets who die from friendly forces accidents while stationed in a war zone aren’t awarded the Purple Heart either. This isn’t disputed Colin. https://t.co/6h6lTRo0a1
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) October 13, 2022
You as a vet are entitled to your frustrations about how your sacrifice is utilized… I wouldn’t dream of saying different.
i gotta ask, if vets are cared for “better” from attention to this matter while long term studies happen, is that it self a net positive?✌🏻
— Colin Atterson (@colinatterson) October 13, 2022
You’re asking if the VA should go ahead and acknowledge a potential, if not probable, link between burn pits and cancer. Yes. The VA is chartered to do just that. However, such a benefits structure doesn’t give Biden license to claim his son’s death a war casualty as he does.
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) October 13, 2022
I def didn’t ask for them to receive a medal man, please don’t put words in my mouth… I simply am pointing out they can cause cancer in humans.
— Colin Atterson (@colinatterson) October 13, 2022
You don’t have to. Our President would stump on the combat valor of his sons death regardless of fact. He’s done it for years. I have nothing but respect for Beau and his honorable service. But he is not in the same Valhalla as my friends, and neither will I be when I die. https://t.co/IOurLaXRUh
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) October 13, 2022
When I die, tell them I died In Afghanistan, and get that full SGLI they shorted me.
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) October 13, 2022
Heh.
Beau Biden didn’t die in Iraq. Beau Biden didn’t die from enemy action. Beau Biden died from a Brain Cancer that was as likely caused by a genetic defect as exposure to radiation or toxins. To make such a leap, as commander in chief, is beyond abhorrent. https://t.co/MwvdQJv38j
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) October 13, 2022
Yesterday wasn’t the first time that Joe Biden has invoked his late son to score political points, and, sadly, it won’t be the last.
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