{"id":128683,"date":"2024-01-02T20:17:57","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T20:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/01\/02\/defense-vets-issues-will-factor-in-2024-presidential-race\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:04:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:04:25","slug":"defense-vets-issues-will-factor-in-2024-presidential-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2024\/01\/02\/defense-vets-issues-will-factor-in-2024-presidential-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense, vets issues will factor in 2024 presidential race"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How big a role military and veterans policies will play in the 2024 presidential election<\/a> will depend on who the presidential nominees are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Joe Biden, the expected Democratic nominee in the contest, already has signaled that veterans issues will be a significant theme in his re-election pitch. On Veterans Day 2023<\/a>, his team debuted a new ad focusing on his administration\u2019s outreach to victims of the toxic smoke<\/a> from military burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commander-in-chief also has made military families a key point of outreach efforts through the Joining Forces campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the campaign trail and in office, Biden has frequently spoken about the military service of his late son, Beau, and the impact of his overseas deployments on the entire Biden family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan<\/a> in August 2021, however, has been a key line of attack for congressional Republicans<\/a> against Biden over the past two years, and will likely be a military theme for whichever GOP candidate emerges as Biden\u2019s November opponent.<\/p>\n\n\n\t