GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell paid tribute to Pennington Thursday in Senate floor remarks that also sought to defend the hostilities, despite shifting narratives about U.S. goals in the region.
"The sacrifices of Sgt. Pennington and six other fallen comrades in the war with Iran have not been in vain," the senator said. "For nearly half a century, Iran has waged war on us."
The comments came just a day after President Donald Trump spoke at a Kentucky rally, casting the Iran conflict as a show of U.S. dominance.
"They were going to try to take over the whole Middle East. They were going to knock out Israel," Trump said. "They don't know what the hell hit them."
Asked about the speech, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear lamented Trump's focus on political attacks, but singled out Pennington — and the lack of acknowledgement of the loss by the president — as disheartening.
"The thing that really bothered me though is (Trump) didn't mention any of the soldiers that we've lost, at least to my knowledge. We lost Sgt. Benjamin Pennington in Glendale, just hours away from where the president was," the Democrat said.
Trump offered effusive praise for the military, but stopped short of condolences to affected soldiers and soldiers' families. In addition to at least seven deaths, the Pentagon said Tuesday that about 140 U.S. service members have been wounded in the conflict with Iran.