President Joe Biden came in for harsh criticism Monday after waiting until night fell to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day and relegating its observance to a five-line tweet.
“Today, we mark 78 years since D-Day and honor those who answered duty’s call on the beaches of Normandy. We must never forget their service and sacrifice in defense of freedom, and we must strive every day to live up to the ideals they fought to defend,” Biden’s official presidential account tweeted at 8:45 p.m. EDT.
The official White House website had no mention of D-Day either, focusing on sending aid to Central America, support for abortion and a “fact sheet” touting what a statement called “robust progress” on the economy.
The Allied invasion that led to a victory that secured freedom for Western Europe in World War II was also not mentioned by White House press secretary Karen Jean-Pierre in her daily briefing.
Many scolded Biden on social media for having his priorities skewed.
You waited until almost 9pm for this tweet, but this was first thing – first tweet in the morning.
Priorities! ? pic.twitter.com/ppSYgzLrbL
— Guru Ghantaal (@mananpatel41) June 7, 2022
At 9pm Biden finally remembered to recognize today, D-Day.
It’s as though Patriots are just an afterthought to him. https://t.co/gYENd9K2nU— Elaine (@IMissJamesWoods) June 7, 2022
D-Day took place in Normandy, which is 6 hours ahead of Washington
Biden’s staff posted this at 8:45 pm Eastern
Or 2:45 am in Normandy on June 7th
He was literally a day late
Thank God Eisenhower, Roosevelt and Churchill knew what day it was https://t.co/FIxaVZPtUe
— Obnoxious Boston Fan (@realOBF) June 7, 2022
Prior to the tweet being posted, Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich vented, as reported by Mediaite.
“Nothing from the president or from the White House, and it’s actually the second year in a row for that. And it is not like this White House doesn’t issue statements frequently. On May 31, they gave a proclamation on National Ocean Month, also a proclamation on National Home Ownership Month and a proclamation on Great Outdoors Month,” she said on “Special Report with Brett Baier.”
“This is something that all the previous past presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump all acknowledged in some form during their first year in office. But two years in a row, no statement from president Biden.”
Others noted the late hour of the post.
It’s nearly 3:30 pm in Washington D.C. and no statement from Biden about D-Day…
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) June 6, 2022
When you wait until 9pm eastern time I’m guessing the staff saw the twitter outrage lol
— Austin Slater (@AustinSlater25) June 7, 2022
Why wasn’t this posted until 8:45PM eastern time?
— ????? (@JamesInCLE) June 7, 2022
Sir, you are the Commander in Chief. I expect better of you. You want to honor those great men, do it at the beginning of the day, not after the sun has set.
You dropped the ball on this one. The right thing to do is apologize to them, you owe them that as their commander.
— Owen (@orice1965) June 7, 2022
As noted by Fox News, the tweet was an increase in attention over D-Day’s anniversary last year, when nothing at all was said.
On Tuesday, Cory Mills, an Army combat veteran and Republican congressional candidate in Florida, told “Fox & Friends First” that Biden was just being Biden by ignoring D-Day.
He compared it to Biden’s failure, during his State of the Union address, to mention the 13 American servicemen and women who died during the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in August.
Should presidents mark D-Day out of respect?
“This is the same guy who wouldn’t even recognize the 13 fallen who died in Afghanistan and perished during his State of the Union address,” Mills said. “He has missed multiple engagements to actually try and show sympathy or show honor, show respect for our fallen heroes. And he’s failed to do so …
“The Biden administration is failing us in every single way. And what a gaffe to not actually recognize the greatest generation of our lifetimes,” he said.
