Two Gold Star fathers of U.S. Marines killed in an ISIS-K-linked blast in Kabul amid President Joe Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal lambasted the commander in chief for acting selfish in their interactions.
Mark Schmitz, father of Missouri Marine Jared Schmitz, and Darin Hoover, father of Utah Marine Darin Taylor Hoover Jr. discussed their tragic and terrible losses in an interview with "Hannity" on Monday.
Schmitz elected to meet with Biden, while Hoover told host Sean Hannity he "didn't want [Biden] anywhere near us."
Schmitz said their meeting was not pleasant, adding that the president reportedly spoke more about his own deceased son, former Delaware State Attorney General Joseph "Beau" Biden III, than he did Jared.
"He talked a bit more about his own son than he did my son, and that didn't sit well with me."
Hoover told "Hannity" the reasoning behind his decision not to meet with Biden was manifested at Dover Air Force Base, Del., where the president and first lady were on hand to solemnly greet the caskets of the 13 fallen American heroes over the weekend.
Biden was photographed checking his watch during the ceremony.
Hoover said the president looked down at his watch not once but several times as the caskets were being offloaded:
"That didn't happen just once. It happened on every single one that came out of that airplane. It happened on every single one of them. They would release the salute, and he would look down at his watch on every last one, all 13, he looked down at his watch," Hoover said.
"As a father, seeing that and the disrespect, and hearing from his former leaders, one of [Taylor's] master sergeants said … that this was avoidable -- that they left them over there: They had them over there and let them down, and we can't have that. It can't happen ever again," he said.
The host then asked Schmitz if he saw Biden checking the time throughout the ceremony:
"Yes I did," he replied. "I leaned into my son's mother's ear and I said ‘I swear to God if he checks his watch one more time’ -- and that was probably only four times in: I couldn't look at him anymore after that."
"Considering the time and why we were there, I found it to be the most disrespectful thing I'd ever seen."
Mark Schmitz, father of Missouri Marine Jared Schmitz, and Darin Hoover, father of Utah Marine Darin Taylor Hoover Jr. discussed their tragic and terrible losses in an interview with "Hannity" on Monday.
Schmitz elected to meet with Biden, while Hoover told host Sean Hannity he "didn't want [Biden] anywhere near us."
Schmitz said their meeting was not pleasant, adding that the president reportedly spoke more about his own deceased son, former Delaware State Attorney General Joseph "Beau" Biden III, than he did Jared.
"He talked a bit more about his own son than he did my son, and that didn't sit well with me."
Hoover told "Hannity" the reasoning behind his decision not to meet with Biden was manifested at Dover Air Force Base, Del., where the president and first lady were on hand to solemnly greet the caskets of the 13 fallen American heroes over the weekend.
Biden was photographed checking his watch during the ceremony.
Hoover said the president looked down at his watch not once but several times as the caskets were being offloaded:
"That didn't happen just once. It happened on every single one that came out of that airplane. It happened on every single one of them. They would release the salute, and he would look down at his watch on every last one, all 13, he looked down at his watch," Hoover said.
"As a father, seeing that and the disrespect, and hearing from his former leaders, one of [Taylor's] master sergeants said … that this was avoidable -- that they left them over there: They had them over there and let them down, and we can't have that. It can't happen ever again," he said.
The host then asked Schmitz if he saw Biden checking the time throughout the ceremony:
"Yes I did," he replied. "I leaned into my son's mother's ear and I said ‘I swear to God if he checks his watch one more time’ -- and that was probably only four times in: I couldn't look at him anymore after that."
"Considering the time and why we were there, I found it to be the most disrespectful thing I'd ever seen."
