The Atlantic Piece "Exploited" Vanessa Guillen's Death For "Cheap Political Gain," Says Family And Attorney

The sister of slain soldier Vanessa Guillen has condemned the media for exploiting her sister’s death to advance their political agendas. 

Mayra Guillen took to X (formerly Twitter) to respond to a report by The Atlantic, which claimed former President Donald Trump refused to pay for Vanessa's funeral and made disparaging remarks about her ethnicity. The report, written by editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, alleges that Trump balked at a $60,000 funeral bill and dismissed the cost, saying, "It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f*king Mexican." There is no confirmed evidence that Trump made such comments.

Trump's spokesperson, Alex Pfeiffer, noted that “President Donald Trump never said that. This is an outrageous lie from The Atlantic two weeks before the election.”

Goldberg’s sensationalized piece has been met with fierce backlash from Guillen’s family, their attorney, and supporters, who accuse the media of exploiting the soldier’s death for political purposes. Accusations were strongly refuted by both Mayra Guillen and the family's attorney, Natalie Khawam.

Mayra described the article as "hurtful and disrespectful," stating that the former president showed nothing but respect to her family in the aftermath of Vanessa’s brutal murder. "I don’t appreciate how you are exploiting my sister’s death for politics," she wrote on X/Twitter. "President Donald Trump did nothing but show respect to my family & Vanessa. In fact, I voted for President Trump today."

Attorney Natalie Khawam, who worked closely with the Guillen family, was equally outraged, accusing The Atlantic of misrepresenting her words and exploiting Vanessa's death to further their agenda. “After having dealt with hundreds of reporters in my legal career, this is unfortunately the first time I have to go on record and call out Jeffrey Goldberg @the Atlantic,” Khawam wrote on X/Twitter. “Not only did he misrepresent our conversation but he outright LIED in HIS sensational story."

“More importantly, he used and exploited my clients, and Vanessa Guillen’s murder… for cheap political gain,” Khawam added. She questioned the timing of the article and pointed out that the supposed conversation took place over four years ago, asking, "Why a story about it now?" It’s clear to me and others that The Atlantic chose to publish the story now ahead of the election. Khawam also reiterated Trump's support for the family, recalling how he invited them to the Oval Office and supported the "I Am Vanessa Guillen Act," which was designed to protect service members from sexual harassment. Goldberg decided to leave this fact out. 

The Guillen family has reiterated that they are devastated by the rehashing of old wounds. Mayra is already pained by her sister’s death, and now the media is purposely exploiting her tragedy to sway the public.

Social media users echoed this sentiment, with one commenter, @tonyseruga, stating, "The Atlantic story is a total lie manufactured by a totally panicked deep state and corrupt intelligence apparatus." The commenter also criticized figures like Nicolle Wallace for allegedly harboring personal vendettas against Trump.

Vanessa Guillen’s tragic murder by a fellow soldier in 2020 led to widespread public outrage and brought attention to the sexual harassment and assault issues within the military. The bipartisan I Am Vanessa Guillen Act, which passed in the wake of her death, marked an important victory in ensuring that independent investigators handle such complaints. 

Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff, addressed the claims on X, stating, “Any suggestion that President Trump disparaged Ms. Guillen or refused to pay for her funeral expenses is absolutely false.” He added, “He was nothing but kind, gracious, and wanted to make sure that the military and the U.S. government did right by Vanessa Guillen and her family.”

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