Joe Biden forgot the deaths of 13 American soldiers in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan when he claimed no troops died during his term.
The president duked it out with his predecessor Donald Trump in the first of two debates on topics from the economy to immigration and foreign affairs.
Biden was asked the first question by CNN moderators about what he would say to voters who feel they were better of under Trump.
After some back and forth between the two men, Biden brought up Trump’s frequent claims that his presidency was good for the US military.
‘The idea that he did something significant for the military, when he was president they were still killing people in Afghanistan – he didn’t do anything about that,’ he said.
‘When he was president we still found ourselves in a position where you had a notion that we were this safe country.
‘The truth is, I’m the only president this century, that doesn’t have any – this decade – that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world, like he did.’
Biden changed his answer to say decade instead of century as the American invasion of Afghanistan didn’t begin until 2001 – though that was the first year of this century.
But either way, Biden was wrong in his claim that no American troops died during his presidency as 13 were killed during the evacuation of Afghanistan.
ISIS-K carried out a double bombing at Kabul airport as Westerners and thousands of Afghani civilians fled the Taliban takeover.
The 13 troops included 11 Marines and one navy medic who died alongside 90 Afghans in the bombing on August 26, 2021.
The first bomber at the Abbey Gate of the airport was wearing a vest and was being searched by troops when he detonated. The second was a car bomb attack at the Baron Hotel.
Biden himself addressed the nation after the bombing and vowed to hunt down those responsible.
‘These American service members who gave their lives – it’s an overused word, but it’s totally appropriate – they were heroes,’ he said at the time.
‘Heroes who have been engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others.
‘They were part of an airlift, an evacuation effort unlike any seen in history… They were part of the bravest, most capable, and the most selfless military on the face of the Earth.
‘And they were part of, simply, what I call the ‘backbone of America.’ They’re the spine of America, the best the country has to offer.’
‘To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget.
‘We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command.’