Huckabee, who briefly ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, took to Twitter on Sunday to call the moment “shocking” and compared it to a similar incident involving the late President George H.W. Bush.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden were attending the dignified transfer of the remains of 13 U.S. troops, including 11 Marines, who were killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday.
Huckabee shared a tweet from Benny Johnson, chief creative officer of conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, that featured a video of the moment Biden appeared to look at his wristwatch.
The former governor wrote: “Many of us remember Pres Bush 41 checking his watch during a debate and how awful it looked (even though we all felt same way about that debate.)”
“But this is shocking and will be remembered,” Huckabee said.
He was referring to a famous moment during the 1992 presidential election when then President Bush was debating Bill Clinton, who was governor of Arkansas and the Democratic nominee for president at the time, and independent candidate Ross Perot.
Bush was caught on camera checking his watch just before a member of the audience asked the candidates how the national debt affected them personally. He would later say that he was thinking: “Only 10 more minutes of this crap.” The moment was widely considered an unforced error on Bush’s part and he went on to lose the election to Clinton.
The Bidens attended the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Sunday. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also attended along with the heads of the U.S. military.
The president and first lady spent some time with the families of the deceased service members. In the video shared by Huckabee, Biden can be seen with his right hand over his chest and seconds later he lowers his hand and pulls his left hand across, appearing to check his watch.
There has been significant criticism on social media of Biden apparently looking at his watch with conservatives other than Huckabee weighing in.
Representative Ronny Jackson, a Republican who represents Texas’ 13th congressional district, tweeted: “Apparently our Commander-in-Chief has better things to do than honor the 13 service members who died on his watch? I’m DISGUSTED! God bless these heroes and their loved ones. They deserved better.”
During his visit to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters on Sunday for a briefing on Hurricane Ida, Biden spoke briefly about the U.S. troops who had been killed.
“We met with the families of 13 fallen heroes in Afghanistan, who lost their lives in the service of our country,” Biden said.
“While we’re praying for the best in Louisiana, let’s keep them in our prayers as well,” he said.