Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued an apology to Gold Star families on Friday for her previous defense of President Joe Biden’s watch-checking incident during a ceremony honoring the 13 soldiers who lost their lives in the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal. Psaki received criticism in May for claiming in her book, “Say More,” that Biden only glanced at his watch after the ceremony had ended.

This statement was proven false by fact-checkers in September 2021, leading Psaki to retract her claim in subsequent reprints. During an interview with the House Foreign Affairs committee, Republican Florida Rep. Mike Waltz stated that Psaki had “agreed to apologize” to the 13 Gold Star families whom she had contradicted in her book.

“Just left the House Foreign Affairs interview with Jen Psaki,” Waltz wrote. “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,” he continued. “This is the right thing to do as fellow Americans and I pray she follows through.”

Michael McCaul, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, questioned Psaki regarding her remarks in “Say More,” persistently pressing her until she apologized, as reported by the Washington Examiner.

“The chairman asked Ms. Psaki about her comments regarding President Biden looking at his watch while at Dover [Air Force Base] and asked her if she had anything she wanted to say to the families on the record,” Leslie Shedd, Foreign Affairs Committee majority spokeswoman, said in a statement to the outlet. “After pressing her multiple times if she had something she wanted to say to them, Ms. Psaki asked the chairman to pass along her apology to the families and to express her regret for the pain she caused them. He has done that.”


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