Former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin hammered President Barack Obama Thursday night, posting a scathing note on Facebook slamming him for the prisoner exchange deal made to free Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and accusing him of lying to the American people.
"Barack Hussein Obama, there you go again," she wrote at the outset of her post. "You underestimated the wisdom of the people, the valor of our vets, the patriotic pride of military families, and the moral courage of our servicemen. You are shocked that our collective jaw dropped when the inner circle you command told us an anti-American deserter met your standards of having 'served with honor and distinction.'"
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks during the 2014 Republican Leadership Conference on May 29, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Palin said "Team Obama" has "gotten away with lying" and they're trying to get away with "lying again with talking points the liberals are parroting ad nauseam about 'never leaving an American behind.'"
"You lie," she wrote. "You’ve left Americans behind."
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin looks on after speaking during the 2014 Republican Leadership Conference on May 29, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Members of the Republican Party set to speak at the 2014 Republican Leadership Conference that runs through through May 31 and will attract over 1,500 delegates from across the country. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
"From the apology tours, to the military cuts, to the VA scandal’s 'death panel' rationing of care for vets, to the Commander-in-chief’s blundered references to corpsmen as, ironically, 'corpse-men,' Americans have patiently endured Team Obama’s military cluelessness, but even your own base is abandoning you after this latest disaster," she continued.
Palin then zoned in on the deal made by Obama to free five detainees from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for the release of Bergdahl, who was being held by the Taliban.
"You freed terrorists who were captured for a reason," she wrote. "Our brave ones sacrificed blood and treasure to keep America safe by doing what you send them into war zones to do – to get the bad guys off the street. You just undid that. The icing on this devil’s food cake is that you did it for an anti-American deserter whose actions have created even more harm for his comrades and former countrymen."
"This deserter chose to put our soldiers in greater danger by abandoning his post and purposefully hooking up with the enemy after writing of his disdain for the USA. He told others he was ashamed to be an American. His own father proudly shared these comments with media back in 2012. He also proclaimed while in uniform, 'The horror that is America is disgusting.' And he’s the one you honor at the White House? Why not give the Rose Garden podium over to the families of the men who died during the rescue efforts mounted to find this ungrateful, disloyal, and dangerous one. In sympathy, you risked innocent lives to bring him back inside the security of the country he chose to leave! So, have you asked yourself what exactly were we 'rescuing' him FROM? According to some reports, he actually renounced his citizenship, in addition to publishing his contempt for our nation, before cowardly trading himself from Team America to Team Taliban. In doing so out in the field, he may have aided our enemies of the Islamic Terrorist persuasion," she continued.
Palin concluded, accusing Obama of playing "too much golf "at the "cost of America's faithful soldiers who'll never get a second chance."
"You underestimated the wisdom of the people, Commander-in-Chief, for we are horrified and disgusted by your secret negotiations with radicals to free five Islamic terrorists in exchange for an anti-American deserter whose actions got others killed. Even more disgusting is your celebration of the cowardly act that initiated this disaster," she wrote.
At the time of publication, her post had amassed more than 20,000 likes on Facebook and over 16,000 shares.
During a Friday interview with NBC News, Obama defended the Taliban exchange deal and said he'd do it again.
“When somebody wears our country’s uniform and they’re in a war theater and they’re captured,” he told Brian Williams, “we’re gonna do everything we can to bring ’em home.”
“And we saw an opportunity and we took it. And I make no apologizes for it. It was a unanimous decision among my principals in my government and a view that was shared by members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” he said. “This is something that I’d do again and I will continue to do wherever I have an opportunity if I have a member of our military who’s in captivity. We’re going to try to get ‘em out.”
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