'Time For Ice Cream?': Twitter Smirks as Biden Spotted Checking Time During Dignified Ceremony
21:02 GMT 29.08.2021 (Updated: 13:03 GMT 14.04.2023)
© REUTERS / TOM BRENNER
Subscribe
The United States lost 13 soldiers during the deadly Thursday bombings in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, with the suicide attacks also claiming the lives of at least 169 Afghan civilians.
On Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, a dignified ceremony of transfer of the fallen US troops' bodies took place, attended by US President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden. The solemn moment of honouring the soldiers killed in the Kabul bombings, however, appeared to be shadowed by a Biden gesture that did not go unnoticed by netizens.
Social media users saw the US president glance at his watch during the ceremony, with the move immediately sparking sarcastic and angry comments. People wondered whether Biden had something more exciting to do instead of honouring the fallen troops, or suggested that it was "time for a nap".
Sorry Mr President, did you have something more interesting to go to 😟
— ♦️ Cathy ♦️ (@SaltyDuchess) August 29, 2021
Getting ready for his afternoon nap.
— Josh Weinstein (@josh24507350) August 29, 2021
Netizens continued to brainstorm on possible options for what could have been the reason behind the president checking his watch.
It’s on Beijing Standard Time.
— Pete Finnegan (@Pete_Finnegan) August 29, 2021
"If we leave now, we can avoid traffic, having to listen to the families of the fallen and be home in time for the "Matlock" marathon!
— Frederick Von Doggle's Mom (@Bunnapalooza) August 29, 2021
pudding time ? or maybe ice cream
— Jason C Sharpe (@onbasejase) August 29, 2021
Some users came up with a possible explanation, slamming critics for being "desperate" to lash out at Biden.
His son, Beau, actually served and was deployed. Can you say the same about the former guy whose family have never served? The watch POTUS looked at which he wears was Beau’s.
— Sleepless in Miami (@MiamiSleepless) August 29, 2021
He also lost his military son.
— John Wylie // ivoryjohn (@johnwylie) August 29, 2021
That watch, from what I understand, is his son's old watch...
We really don't have to go that low, man.
Thirteen bodies of soldiers who died in the Thursday Kabul bombings arrived on Sunday at Dover Air Force Base, amid the president's pledges to "hunt down" those responsible for the attacks that claimed their lives. By the end of the week, the United States had conducted several airstrikes against targets attributed to Daesh*, as the group claimed responsibility for the Kabul bombings.
The latest American airstrike, which took place on Sunday, caused "secondary" blasts that killed, according to media reports, six people, among them four minors.
* A terrorist organization banned in Russia
