The controversy surrounding the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner exchange now includes his father, who some are calling a Taliban sympathizer. INSIDE EDITION reports.
The firestorm raging around POW Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl now includes his father.
Robert Bergdahl sent this tweet to a notorious Taliban spokesman just days before his son was released: "I am still working to free all Guantanamo prisoners. God will repay for the death of every Afghan child, ameen." [or, amen]
The tweet was deleted before he and Bergdahl's mother appeared alongside President Obama at the White House.
J.H. Owen-Pool/Getty Images
Some are now calling Robert Bergdahl a "Taliban sympathizer."
Megyn Kelly, with former Vice President Dick Cheney beside her, had this to say on Fox News, "That man stood next to our own president in the Rose Garden at the announcement of this deal, and spoke in Arabic."
A video from London's Guardian newspaper shows Robert Bergdahl at home in Idaho. He grew a full beard in a show of solidarity with his POW son and spent four hours a day studying the language of the Afghans. In the video, he says, "I'm trying to write or read the language."
Robert Bergdahl's neighbors in Hailey, Idaho, are now coming to his defense. Sherry Horton runs the ballet academy where Sergeant Bergdahl learned to dance before joining the army.
Horton told INSIDE EDITION, "They were just doing anything and everything they could to make sure Bowe came home. We're just waiting for him to come home. Give some big hugs to him and make sure that he's really okay."
But soldiers who served with Bergdahl continue to lash out. They say that six U.S. soldiers were killed in action while searching for him after he allegedly abandoned his post in the night. He left his weapon and his body armor behind.
Former Sergeant Josh Corder appeared on the Today show and said, "We all served together and we were all in it together over there. And he broke that bond by leaving us."
Bergdahl's army roommate, Cody Full had this to say on Good Morning America, "He was not captured. He was not forcefully taken off the base. He left on his own accord."
Krissa Murphrey is the sister of staff Sergeant Michael Murphrey, one of the soldiers who was killed. She told INSIDE EDITION's Megan Alexander, "When Bowe Bergdahl walked off the post and abandoned his guys, it indirectly contributed to my brother's death."
President Obama, arriving on a state visit to Poland today, defended the exchange of Bergdahl for five senior Taliban leaders, saying, "Regardless of the circumstances, whatever those circumstances turn out to be, we still get an American soldier back if he's held in captivity. Period."
