Mom of US service member killed in Afghanistan withdrawal slams Biden's foreign policy: 'Weaker now than ever'

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Gold Star mother slams Biden's foreign policy: 'Considered weaker now than ever'

Gold Star mother Paula Knauss Selph joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss the significance of foreign policy as GOP candidates are likely to debate the topic during the first debate. 

Gold Star mom Paula Knauss Selph put the Biden administration's foreign policy on blast Wednesday, two years after 13 U.S. service members – including her son Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss – were killed during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"Is the administration current going to be responsible for what happened in Afghanistan? We have yet to see anyone that has been responsible for it…" she told "Fox & Friends First" co-hosts Todd Piro and Carley Shimkus, Wednesday.

"Where in America are we right now? Where in this world are we right now with our power that we once held as the strength among the nations? We are considered weaker now than ever. Who will stand up and show better foreign policy at this time?"

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A recent Fox News poll shows 55% of registered voters disapprove of Biden's job on foreign policy. (Fox & Friends First/Screengrab)

The issue is shaping up to be among the top priorities for Republican candidates facing off at Wednesday's first presidential primary debate. As voters ask who is most qualified to take the reins and preserve America's influence on the world stage, a recent Fox News poll indicated 55% of registered voters disapprove of the president's job on foreign policy.

Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, for instance, said candidates must "bring it" on foreign policy during the 2024 race.

"'Commander-in-chief' Biden has been reckless and feckless in foreign affairs and his deputy, Kamala Harris, has embarrassed us on the world stage," Conway continued. "What's the point of having a female vice president if, due to her and Biden's impulsive, deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, Afghan women are less free."

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Ryan died Aug. 26, 2021, in the suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. (U.S. Special Operations Forces Command)

Selph's own lived experience helped shape a similar opinion. As she spoke with ‘Fox & Friends First,’ Wednesday, she alleged Biden sought a photo op with her Conn Memorial Day last year as she mourned her son's death.

"You say that you met President Biden, Memorial Day 2022, and you were crying, you were upset, and he asked if you wanted to take a picture with him, and you said you felt like that was just a photo op. I'm wondering if that experience with the president has changed your view or sharpened it in terms of what you look for in a commander in chief?" Shimkus asked.

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Evacuees wait to board a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 23, 2021.  (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Isaiah Campbell)

"Photo ops are wonderful opportunities for people to have a memory. But what I offered at the end of that conversation was something that only could come from the Lord," Selph replied. "I looked at the president and I said, 'Sir, if you'd like to take that photo with me, please, If you want me to walk down from the hill in Arlington, I would love for you to take that photo with me beside my son's grave.'"

"The character of this country is in question mark, and we have to move forward as a country to see that those who we elect right now have the moral decency and character that we need to come back to a better America."

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