Pres. Joe Biden was heavily criticized on social media for checking his watch as he and wife, Jill, attended the dignified transfer of 13 fallen service members.
The Bidens traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on August, 29, 2021, to attend the dignified transfer of 13 members of the US military killed by a suicide bomber in Kabul, Afghanistan last week.
The 11 Marines, a Navy medic and an Army member were killed in an ISIS-K suicide attack on Kabul airport that killed around 170 people last week.
Military veterans criticized Biden for looking at his watch while military personnel carried the transfer case of one of the fallen Marines past him.
Looks like he was being inconvenienced by having to show some respect for these American Heroes [sic],” tweeted Desert Storm Army veteran Samuel Williams.
Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, a retired Navy rear admiral, tweeted:
“Apparently our Commander-in-Chief has better things to do than honor the 13 service members who died on his watch? I’m DISGUSTED! God bless these heroes and their loved ones. They deserved better.”
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said:
“Many of us remember Pres Bush 41 checking his watch during a debate and how awful it looked (even though we all felt same way about that debate.) But this is shocking and will be remembered.”
Submarine veteran J Larry Hanna wrote:
“Biden, as the caskets passed before him, had to glance at his watch. Does he have something more important?”
The Bidens, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other heads of military arrived early Sunday morning to meet privately with the families after the fallen service members returned to U.S. soil.
Biden and his wife, Jill, both wearing black and with black face masks, first met far from the cameras with relatives of the dead in a special family center at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Flag-draped transfer cases line the inside of a C-17 Globemaster II Aug. 29, 2021, prior to a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. The fallen service members died while supporting non-combat operations in Kabul.
Gone, but never forgotten. pic.twitter.com/7HzJvnFrSD
— U.S. Marines (@USMC) August 29, 2021
Biden and the first lady then boarded a C-17 Globemaster plane to say a prayer over the flag draped caskets.
