Two Gold Star fathers of U.S. Marines killed during the terrorist attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan, recently spoke out about their experiences with President Joe Biden.
Mark Schmitz, the father of Marine Jared Schmitz, and Darin Hoover, the father of Marine Darin Taylor Hoover Jr. discussed their loss during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday.
Schmitz decided to meet with Biden, but Hoover told Hannity, “we didn’t want [Biden] anywhere near us,” the outlet reported.
According to Schmitz, the meeting was not pleasant and he said the president talked more about his deceased son, former Delaware State Attorney General Joseph “Beau” Biden III than he did Jared Schmitz.
Military transfer teams carry one of 11 flag-draped transfer cases with the remains of a member of the military killed last week in Afghanistan off a military aircraft as President Joe Biden attends the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, August 29, 2021. (From L-R, top to bottom row) The 11 service members include Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23; Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31; Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo, 25; Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23; Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23; Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20; and Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak, 22. The transfer cases with the remains of two additional service members are not pictured. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“Initially, I wasn’t going to meet with him,” Schmitz noted. “But then I felt I owed it to my son to at least have some words with him about how I felt – and it didn’t go well.”
“He talked a bit more about his own son than he did my son, and that didn’t sit well with me,” he added.
Hoover said the reason behind why he chose not to meet with Biden began at Dover Air Force Base where the president and first lady solemnly greeted the caskets of the 13 fallen servicemembers.
Biden faced mounting criticism after a clip emerged online Sunday of him looking at his watch during the transfer ceremony of the Marines slain in Afghanistan.
Hoover claimed Biden looked at his watch several times while 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,” he commented.
When asked why Hoover’s family declined to meet with President Biden, he stated, “We said, ‘absolutely not.’ We didn’t want to deal with him. We didn’t want him anywhere near us. We, as a family, decided that that was the way it was going to be.”
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