(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki walked back her defense of President Joe Biden after he was caught looking at his watch during a solemn ceremony for the 13 American servicemen killed in the disastrous 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Psaki testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday, where she agreed to apologize to the Gold Star families for falsely claiming in her book that Biden never looked at his watch.
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., announced Psaki’s plan to apologize in a statement on Twitter, writing, “This isn’t a partisan or gotcha moment. This is the right thing to do as fellow Americans and I pray she follows through.”
Just left the House Foreign Affairs interview with Jen Psaki.
She agreed to apologize to the 13 Afghanistan Gold Star families whom she falsely contradicted in her book when she said Biden didn’t look at his watch.
This isn’t a partisan or gotcha moment. This is the right…
— Rep. Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) July 26, 2024
On Fox News’s Fox & Friends Weekend, Waltz recounted how Psaki agreed to apologize. “At first her explanation was that she didn’t intend to contradict the parents,” Waltz said, referring to Psaki’s 2024 book, Say More: Lessons from Work, the White House, and the World.
In the book, she claimed that Biden “looked at his watch only after the ceremony had ended. Moments later, he and the First Lady headed toward their car.”
These claims contradict the fact that Biden looked at his watch while the caskets of the servicemen were being transferred from airplanes to buses.
“More than two years after Afghanistan, Jen Psaki finally admitted she was wrong about Biden not checking his watch during the transfer of our fallen heroes of the withdrawal,” Waltz said. “I hope that she personally apologizes to the Gold Star families she disrespected.”
Psaki served as press secretary from January 2021 to May 2022 and now hosts a show on MSNBC.
While some may consider Psaki’s apology a step towards accountability, Biden has repeatedly disrespected Gold Star families.
During the infamous CNN debate on June 27, Biden claimed he had not had a single serviceman die during his tenure. The Gold Star parents scolded Biden over this demonstrably fake claim.
“It’s always an excuse, but the reality is that these 13 died, and many more were injured, and 180 Afghans died at that moment,” Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of Sgt. Nicole Gee, who died in Kabul. “This was supposed to be a peacekeeping mission and evacuation. Our kids weren’t there at war, and he couldn’t even bring them home – couldn’t get that right.”
Biden's own Pentagon press secretary admits Biden was LYING when he outrageously claimed he's the "only president this century" not to have any troops killed during his term pic.twitter.com/OXZSgiYbJ3
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 28, 2024
During Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address on March 7, federal law enforcement officers arrested Gold Star father Steve Nikoui after he protested Biden’s speech.
“Abbey Gate, Abbey Gate,” Steve Nikoui shouted, referencing the location where his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, was killed in Kabul.
Steve Nikoui faced federal charges until they were dropped 13 days later.
No father should have to bury his son, yet my State of the Union guest Steve Nikoui had to bury 2 because of Joe Biden’s failures.
To add insult to injury, Steve was ARRESTED for protesting Biden’s REFUSAL to even acknowledge his son. Biden’s America is dystopian. pic.twitter.com/Mklzri5VIg
— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) March 14, 2024
