Gold Star families say Biden 'napped' while they waited hours for dignified transfer of soldiers killed in Afghanistan withdrawal

President Joe Biden, aside from checking his watch numerous times during the dignified transfer of the 13 soldiers who were killed during the Afghanistan withdrawal, added insult to injury by keeping them waiting for hours while he was taking a nap on Air Force One right before the ceremony, Gold Star family members have told The Post Millennial. 

According to multiple Gold Star family members, and first reported by the Daily Mail, the allegation against the aging president comes as it has been revealed that there was a cover-up from the Biden administration to keep his deteriorating health from public view. 

The Post Millennial was able to speak to multiple Gold Star family members about the incident. Darin Hoover, the father of deceased Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, told TPM that in addition to checking his watch "after every single" deceased soldier "came off that plane," his family was told that Biden had to take a nap on Air Force One in the hours leading up to the dignified transfer.  


Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover

"He rarely even acknowledged the Gold Star families. He didn't know our kids' names, but he talked about his son, Beau, dying in the military as well, [but] we all know that Beau was in a hospital bed surrounded by family. I mean, it's tone deaf at best." 

Hoover said that the whole experience was just "insensitive as hell." Hoover told TPM that at one point his daughter yelled at the president over him looking at the watch. Hoover added in his comments to TPM, "Biden turned to his staffer and asked, 'What have I done wrong?'" 

Kelly Barnett, the mother of deceased Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, also told TPM that Biden had slept away for hours as they waited on the tarmac. She added, "His decline started early on. It was probably before he even was put in as president." 

"Because of that, I believe my child is dead. I do blame it on his decline. I blame it on his inability to perform. And I blame it on his people's inability to tell him no," she added in her comments to TPM. 

Roice McCollum, the sister to deceased Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, told the Mail, "[Biden] made us wait an extra three hours to receive the bodies of our dead family members because he couldn't pull it together." She added that a military officer had to inform them of the president's extra sleep as they were waiting on the tarmac.  


Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum

Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law to deceased Sgt. Nicole Gee, told TPM that she is glad people are finally "coming forward with the truth" on the situation of the dignified transfer. "I truly believe President Biden's mental deterioration and the staff/officials who covered it up are responsible for the deaths of our loved ones," she added.  


Sgt. Nicole Gee

"No one was paying attention to the largest humanitarian airlift in history, every advisor was raising the red flag, the state dept had dissent cables (a SOS from their own staff) they ignored and the military had their hands tied with their commander in chief unreachable and unfit for the job," Shamblin said. "All of this started at the top with a commander in chief who was failing mentally from the start of his presidency. With that leadership his staff spent all their time hiding these facts and serving their own interests. Our men and women in uniform paid the price."

Shamblin added in her comments, "The aftermath and the cover up from his staff and appointed official’s is shameful and I am truly hopeful as more truth comes out and we shine a light on it we can make sure this never happens again."

Mark Schmitz, the father of Lance Corporal Jared M. Schmitz, told TPM that he has seen a “major breakdown in senior level government” with Biden’s decline. He added said that at the time of the transfer, he “sat in the holding room in Dover with all the other families waiting for Biden to finally appear," adding, "Which by my accounts was well after we met with the other dignitaries." He estimated that it was at least a couple hours before Biden showed up.  


Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz

“I overheard some of the handlers mention he was still asleep on the plane,” Schmitz added in his comments. “Had I known then what I know now that meeting with him would have gone a whole lot differently. I’ll just leave it at that,” he added.

Schmitz added that Biden, government staff, and CENTCOM have all been “part of the coverup” of what led to the soldiers’ deaths and encouraged people to look at the reporting of Sarah Adams, who he said, “Has conducted which by all accounts is far more than CENTCOM or the DOD did in over 3 years."

"Our kids died for this country and would do it again but not for the same leadership or lack thereof," Schmitz added. 

The White House has denied the claims that Biden was taking a nap on the plane leading up to the transfer, "That claim is untrue. As President Biden said on the 4th anniversary of the tragic attack on Abbey Gate and in the letters he wrote to family members after meeting with them in Dover, ‘these 13 Americans—and the many more that were wounded—were patriots in the highest sense’ and ‘we owe them and their families a sacred debt we will never be able to fully repay, but will never cease working to fulfill."

During the botched Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021, 13 US soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber at Abbey Gate at the Kabul Airport. The Taliban has since taken control of the region since the withdrawal. Multiple Gold Star family members of the deceased soldiers have previously told TPM that the Biden-Harris administration has refused to be transparent with them on the investigation into their children's deaths and are continuing to look for answers on the subject.