Did Biden check his watch
Executive summary
Photographs and video from the Dover Air Force Base transfer on Aug. 29, 2021 show President Joe Biden looking at his wrist during the dignified transfer of 13 U.S. service members, and contemporaneous fact-checking concluded he glanced at his watch multiple times rather than exactly 13 times as some online claims alleged [1] [2]. Disputes since then — including a differing account in Jen Psaki’s book and partisan amplification — have kept the episode politically charged, but the visual record supports that Biden did check his watch during the ceremony [2] [1].
1. The visual record: photographs and video that matter
News photographers and video captured at least two distinct moments when Biden appears to glance at his left wrist during the Dover ceremony, and fact-checkers and newsrooms cited those images when assessing the claim [1] [2]; the Associated Press photographer’s images were specifically referenced as showing Biden looking at his watch twice and about ten minutes apart [2]. Multiple outlets compiled clips of the event for viewers — including a C-SPAN clip that isolates moments in which Biden checks his watch immediately after segments of the transfer — reinforcing that the gestures are visible on the recording [3].
2. What was claimed, and what fact-checkers concluded
Social media amplified versions of the story that varied widely — from “one glance” to the hyperbolic claim he checked his watch 13 times — prompting contemporaneous fact-checks that rejected the extreme counts while confirming multiple glances [1]. Snopes updated its verdict from “Mixture” to “True” after locating a photograph showing a second watch glance, and USA Today and other outlets similarly concluded photos and video show more than a single glance [1] [2].
3. Competing accounts and political context
The episode immediately became a political cudgel: conservative commentators and political rivals used the images to question Biden’s empathy and comportment, while supporters and some family members offered context or alternative explanations — for instance, pointing to the rosary Biden wears above his watch or to emotional strain in a chaotic evacuation environment [4] [5]. Jen Psaki’s later book offered an account that contradicted photographic evidence by saying Biden did not look at his watch during the ceremony, a claim Axios flagged as at odds with contemporaneous fact-checks and Gold Star family statements [2].
4. Eyewitnesses and family members: reinforcing and disputing narratives
Several Gold Star family members and veterans publicly said Biden checked his watch as the caskets passed, with at least one father quoted saying it happened repeatedly for each transfer — a firsthand impression that aligned with some of the photographic evidence but also carried the weight of grief, perception, and the intense emotions of the moment [6] [2]. At the same time, others close to the president and some of his defenders insisted context matters — that a glance at a wrist can be for many reasons — underscoring how interpretation varies by viewpoint and political inclination [5] [4].
5. What can be stated with confidence, and what remains interpretation
It is supported by the visual record and contemporaneous fact-checks that Biden glanced at his wrist multiple times during the Dover ceremony; claims of exactly 13 glances are not substantiated by the evidence cited in major fact-checks and newsroom reporting [1] [2]. Why he looked down — whether to check time, the rosary, or for another reason — cannot be conclusively determined from photos and video alone, and subsequent contradictory narratives (including Psaki’s book) reflect political and personal framing rather than new definitive visual evidence [2].