Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki claims in her new book that President Bidennever looked at his watch during the ceremony for soldiers killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 — contradicting news photos and firsthand accounts of Gold Star families.

Why it matters: In TV ads and social media posts, Donald Trump and his allies repeatedly have used images of Biden checking his watch during the ceremony to try to undermine the president's brand as an empathetic leader.

• Psaki's book is the latest instance of current and former Biden administration officials downplaying or misrepresenting controversial episodes from the Afghanistan withdrawal ahead of the 2024 election.

Driving the news: In her new book "Say More," Psaki writes that "the president looked at his watch only after the ceremony had ended. Moments later, he and the First Lady headed toward their car."

• Psaki, now a star anchor at MSNBC who has described herself as a journalist, writes that Biden's critics were engaged in "misinformation" and used the image to make "him appear insensitive, concerned only about how much time had passed."
• The story stands out because her account of Afghanistan is one of the few parts of the book where Psaki goes deep behind the scenes of the Biden White House.