Several Republican lawmakers are rallying around the Gold Star father who was arrested at President Joe Biden's recent State of the Union address, Fox News reports. 

"Gold Star," according to United Service Organizations, is a title "reserved for families of military members who have died in the line of duty." The organization states the title "is meant to honor the service member’s ultimate sacrifice while acknowledging their family’s loss, grief, and continued healing."

The Gold Star father who was arrested is Steve Nikoui. He is the father of Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, a U.S. Marine who was killed in 2021, during the Biden administration's botched withdrawal of the U.S. military from Afghanistan.

Nikoui was arrested last week for what he did during Biden's speech.

What happened?

In case you missed it, Nikoui appeared at Biden's State of the Union address at the invitation of U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL). And, while Biden was delivering his address, Nikoui began heckling him.

The heckling took place just as Biden tried to claim that, because of his administration, "America is safer today than when [he] took office."

Nikoui, clearly, did not agree with this statement, and he decided to let Biden know about it. The Gold Star father did so by shouting, "Abbey Gate" and "United States Marines." This was a reference to the bombing that took place at Afghanistan's capital - the same bombing that led to his son's death.

Subsequently, Capitol Police escorted Nikoui out of the State of the Union address, and they proceeded to place the Gold Star father under arrest. Officers claim that they arrested Nikoui because he refused to stop heckling Biden, disregarding the orders of the Capitol Police.

The arrest has become a highly controversial subject, and, now, many lawmakers - particularly Republicans - are coming to Nikoui's aid.

"Biden has never apologized"

Many Republicans have released statements on the matter, on social media, in which they directed significant criticism at Biden - both for Nikoui's arrest and for the president's mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), for example, wrote:

This Gold Star father - Steve Nikoui - lost his son Kareem Nikoui at Abbey Gate Afghanistan. Then Kareem’s older brother committed suicide over the loss. To this day, Biden has never apologized or said Kareem’s name in public. And Steve was ARRESTED for demanding Biden do so at SOTU. Seriously?

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), on the other hand, wrote, "I stand with the Gold Star families from Afghanistan — especially my friend Steve Nikoui. He gave the only poignant speech I heard last night."

It is not just Republicans, though, who are coming to Nikoui's defense. U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) wrote, "As a Gold Star Son myself, I can only imagine the pain he has felt since losing his son in Afghanistan. No one should interrupt a State of the Union Address, but if Marjorie Taylor Greene wasn’t arrested for her outbursts, why should he?"

It's a fair question. An explanation has not been provided.