Jen Psaki dodges question about Biden looking at his watch when slain servicemembers returned to U.S., and brushes off criticism from Gold Star families 'because he knows first hand what it's like to lose a child'
White House press secretary Jen Psaki dodged a question about President Biden looking at his watch during a transfer ceremony in honor of the slain 13 U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing near Kabul airport.
On Sunday, Biden and the families of the 13 fallen troops attended the ceremony as the bodies of the service members arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Biden was caught on camera glancing at his watch after flag-draped caskets were brought off the plane.
He was blasted by family members at the event, with Darin Hoover - the father of killed Marine Staff Sgt Taylor Hoover Jr - claiming the commander in chief looked at his watch after every casket was removed from the plane.
Hoover told Sean Hannity on Fox News: 'The checking of his watch, that didn't happen just once. That happened on every single one that came out of that airplane. It happened on every single one of them.
'As a father, you know, seeing that and the disrespect.'
But on Tuesday, Psaki dodged a question about the incident asked by Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich during the daily press conference.
President Joe Biden is under fire for appearing to look at his watch during Sunday's 'dignified transfer' onto American soil of the 13 American troops killed in Thursday's Kabul suicide bomb attack
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki (pictured) did not confirm whether Biden was checking the time during the transfer ceremony of the remains of the fallen and instead offered condolences to the Gold Star families on behalf of Biden
Darin Hoover (right) told Hannity his family rejected Biden's offer of speaking to them and that the President checked his watch every time a casket came out of the airplane
Heinrich said: 'Some of the Gold Star families have criticized the president's conduct at the dignified transfer. There was a father of one Marine who said the president shouldn't be checking his watch every time a flag draped transport case came by the plane. And a sister of another Marine said that it felt like a fake and scripted apology,' Heinrich said during the briefing.
'Was the president looking at his watch and does he have a message for those people who felt that they were offended?'
Psaki avoided answering Heinrich's question, and instead offered condolences to the families on behalf of Biden.
'Well I would say his message to all of the family members, who were there, those who were not even in attendance, is that he is grateful to their sons and daughters, the sacrifice that they made to the country.
'That he knows firsthand what it's like to lose a child and the fact no one can tell you anything, or say anything, that there's no words that are going to fill that hole that is left by that.'
The president made the unannounced trip to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Sunday morning as the caskets of the 13 service members killed in the attack were brought back to the United States.
He stood in silence, his right hand to his chest, as a succession of flag draped transfer coffins were carried past him from a C-17 Globemaster plane.
But during the ceremony, Biden appears to jerk his left arm up and look down at his watch.
The president continues to get flak for his handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and for repeatedly checking his watch during the dignified transfer of 11 of the service members on Sunday
The president saluted at the top of the stairs before boarding Air Force One on Sunday morning
Biden was also criticized for talking about his late son Beau rather than the fallen troops when he met with the grieving Gold Star families at the event.
But at the press conference, Psaki refused to address the criticism, saying: 'He's not and I'm not going to speak to the private conversations, of course, they have the right to convey whatever they would like.
'But I will tell you, from spending a lot of time with him over the last couple of days, that he was deeply impacted by these family members who he met, just two days ago.
'That he talks about them frequently in meetings and the incredible service of their sons and daughters. That is not going to change their suffering, but I wanted to convey that still.'
Cheyenne McCollum, the sister of fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, a 20-year-old Marine who was one of 13 troops killed in the suicide bomb attack near Kabul airport, said that Biden's apology to her family wasn't 'sincere,' according to Fox News.
Rylee McCollum's family (L-R: sister Cheyenne, sister Roice and father Jim) said they felt Biden was 'fake' in his sympathy on Sunday. Roice and Jim refused to meet with he president at Dover
Fallen Marine Lance Corporal Rylee McCollum's widow Jiennah (right) thought her talk with Biden felt scripted. The two married six months ago and Jiennah is due to give birth to their child next month
She added that the president avoided looking at family members in the eye and chose to talk about his son, Beau Biden, during the three-minute conversation instead of the 13 service members, including Rylee, who died last week in the suicide-bombing caused by ISIS-K attack near Kabul airport.
Only McCollum's widow, Jiennah, accepted to meet the President. The family told the Post that Jiennah was left disappointed by her talk with Biden.
Mark Schmitz, whose 20-year-old son Jared was killed in Kabul, told the Washington Post 'my interest was lost' when Biden began talking about Beau. He also showed a picture of his son to Biden and told the president: 'Don't you ever forget that name.'
'Don't you ever forget that face. Don't you ever forget the names of the other 12. And take some time to learn their stories.'
He recalled that Biden didn't seem to like those comments.
'I do know their stories,' Biden shot back at Schmitz.
Mark Schmitz (left) told Sean Hannity on Monday that Biden fired back at him after telling the President to not forget the faces and names of the 13 troops, including his son's who died in Kabul
Schmitz said that a sister of a fallen troop yelled at the president after receiving the remains on Sunday: 'I hope you burn in hell! That was my brother!'
'I can't fault her for it,' Schmitz told the Post without identifying the relative who screamed at the president. 'We all lost somebody.'
'I'm not trying to insult the president, but it just didn't seem that appropriate to spend that much time on his own son,' Schmitz said. 'I think it was all him trying to say he understands grief. . . . But when you're the one responsible for ultimately the way things went down, you kind of feel like that person should own it a little bit more.'
Shana Chappell, the mother of Marine Kareem Nikoui, was also critical of Biden in a Facebook post after the meeting on Sunday.
'Remember I am the one who stood 5 inches from your face and was letting you know I would never hug my son again, hear his laugh and then you tried to interrupt me and give me your own sob story and i had to tell you 'that this isn't about you so don't make it about you!!!' Chappell wrote.
The 13 killed on Thursday were Navy corpsman Max Soviak, Army Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss, and Marines Hunter Lopez, Rylee McCollum, David Lee Espinoza, Kareem Nikoui, Jared Schmitz, Daegan Page, Taylor Hoover, Humberto Sanchez, Johanny Rosario, Dylan Merola and Nicole Gee.
Families of the fallen U.S. service members were left disappointed by Joe Biden at the dignified transfer on Sunday. One sister of a fallen Marine yelled at the president: 'I hope you burn in hell! That was my brother!'
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