by WorldTribune Staff, April 7, 2019
The father of an American aid worker who was abducted by Islamic State (ISIS) and died in captivity in 2015 said he was outraged that the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation withdrawing the “American Hostage Freedom Award” it had initially awarded to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The award was rescinded after corporate media protested.
Carl Mueller, father of Kayla Mueller, told the Daily Caller that he “literally got up and left” after he “suffered through [keynote speaker Christiane Amanpour’s] little speech.”
“It is sad that this kind of thing has worked its way into society – the hate for Republicans, mostly the hatred for Donald Trump,” Mueller said. “But it’s sad that it dictates to a fine foundation that’s trying to do good work and good things, but yet unfortunately bows to these journalists. They said they would boycott the event if Mr. Pompeo got the award. And the only reason I can see they would do that is because of their hatred of Donald Trump.”
Related: Pompeo’s ‘American Hostage Freedom Award’ revoked after anti-Trump media complains, April 4, 2019
Mueller asserted that he and his wife “probably wouldn’t have attended [the dinner] had we known that they succumbed to the pressure of the left media. So is the Foley Foundation now run by these people? This is the first indication that that might be true.”
“It’s typical when a foundation gets as large as the Foley Foundation, and it’s very sad that it cowers down and bows down to the pressure from the left media. I find that very disturbing,” Mueller said. “We’ve known the Foleys for a long time. I admire and respect [foundation president] Diane Foley, and she has done so much. But given this kind of thought and rhetoric, I hope that a Republican reporter never gets taken. Because are they are going to support him? It’s a ludicrous question, but that’s what comes to mind.”
Mueller also said he was disappointed by the Obama administration’s response to his daughter’s ordeal.
Kayla Mueller was abducted on Aug. 4, 2013 by ISIS jihadists who ambushed her vehicle as she left a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria.
ISIS claims Kayla Mueller was killed killed during coalition airstrikes in early 2015, at the age of 26. Though it confirmed her death, the U.S. government reached no official conclusion regarding the cause of it, and her parents remain unsure of her fate.
“I’ll tell you a little story about [former Secretary of State] John Kerry and the Obama administration,” Mueller said. “We were communicating 18 months with ISIS to save our daughter. And when President Obama finally decided to meet with us – finally agreed to meet with us after a second request – we were leaving the White House and John Kerry was walking in. If it hadn’t been for [former Democratic Indiana Sen.] Joe Donnelly grabbing him by the arm and dragging him over to us, he would have never met with us. He never attempted to meet with us. He never requested a meeting with us.”
Mueller contrasted such behavior with Pompeo and the Trump administration. “I have to stand up for the Trump administration and Mr. Pompeo in regards to the hostage situation and the hostage families,” Mueller said. “They reached out, brought us to D.C., we met personally with Secretary Pompeo.” Mueller mentioned how they were just one of many hostage families invited to meet with Pompeo.
“We have many questions that we still need to answer that the previous administration has blocked,” Mueller told the Daily Caller. “Our story is starting to come out because obviously we’re coming out of the closet in a big way. We told Secretary Pompeo at our private meeting with the other families that we truly believe that if this current administration was in when Kayla was captured, she would be home. We truly believe that.”
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Father of woman killed in ISIS captivity slams foundation for rescinding Pompeo’s ‘Hostage Freedom Award’ added by World Tribune on
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