The three US Army reservists killed Saturday in Jordan will return to the US.
They will hold a ‘dignified transfer’ ceremony in Dover in the coming days
NSC spokesman John Kirby did not confirm Monday that Biden would attend.
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Joe Biden could skip the ceremony honoring the three US Army reservists killed in Jordan, an administration official suggested.
The trio will likely return home in the coming days to Dover Air Force Base in a “dignified transfer,” a solemn military ceremony for those killed in foreign combat.
Biden attended the ceremony in memory of the 13 soldiers killed in Afghanistan in August 2021, but it was not confirmed that he would attend this commemoration.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked Monday if Biden would attend. “I don’t have anything on your agenda to talk to,” he said.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked on Monday whether Biden would attend the “dignified transfer” ceremony for the three US service members killed on Sunday.
From left to right: Spc. Kennedy Sanders, Sgt. William Jerome Ríos and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett. The three US Army Reserve soldiers from Georgia were killed in a drone strike on Sunday
Attending the ceremony may be difficult, as in 2021 Biden was criticized for looking at his watch, apparently distracted, during the event.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki dodged the question of why she was looking at her watch, saying: “Well, I would say your message to all the family members who were there – those who weren’t even in attendance – is who thanks his sons and daughters for the sacrifice they made for the country; who knows firsthand what it is like to lose a child and the fact that no one can tell you anything or say anything, or that there are no words that can fill the void. leave that.’
But Biden’s critics reacted angrily Monday to the potential snub. “A ruthless and conscienceless administration,” said one person.
“It’s better not to bother,” said another. ‘He would just be watching his watch. How disgusting and frankly an insult to the families of the fallen.
Another said: “I personally wouldn’t want him around me or my family because he’s a DISGRACE.”
One said it was “all political calculations”, while another said: “Shameful.”
Biden was criticized for appearing to look at his watch during a ‘dignified transfer’ in 2021
Joe and Jill Biden are seen at Dover Air Force Base on August 29, 2021, alongside Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense.
Biden greets soldiers involved in August 2021 ‘dignified transfer’ ceremony
The caskets of 13 US service members who died in Afghanistan are transported to the tarmac.
The flag-draped coffins were removed for burial after the ceremony.
Biden’s three most recent predecessors as presidents attended such dignified transfers. It was Biden’s first time participating in the ritual as president, but he had been here before.
Biden attended a dignified transfer of two American soldiers killed in a suicide attack at Bagram Airfield in the final months of his vice presidency in 2016.
In 2008, as a senator and at the request of the grieving family, he attended one for a soldier killed in a car bomb in Iraq. Biden told CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ that he had to get permission from the Pentagon to attend the transfer.