So earlier this week there was a ceremony at Arlington Cemetery for the 13 Americans killed in the Abbey Gate bombing
as the United States fled Afghanistan in humiliating fashion. The 2 people responsible for the carnage
did not attend, but Donald Trump did attend that event and of course Trump is the only 1 who's taking heat from the media tonight.
Desperately trying to keep alive, PBS is reporting of an altercation between a Trump staffer and a cemetery official that day.
New York Times Maggie Haberman claiming the family of a dead green beret is upset by Trump's team filming
near his grave site without their permission.
Kelly Barnett was there this week with Trump. She is a gold star mother. Her son, Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover, was killed in the Abbey Gate suicide bombing, and She joins us tonight.
And thank you so much, Kelly, for coming on and joining us. It does seem clear to me that the media wants to protect Biden and Kamala politically.
They bear the responsibility for the chaotic
exit. They bear responsibility for what happened to your son.
So this story is what we get
after what we saw in a beautiful ceremony that we saw this week.
I want to ask just to start, did you witness any of this alleged tension between the Trump team and the cemetery officials?
No, thank you for having me and letting me have a voice. No,
I heard about it later
that evening and the first thing in the morning. We heard nothing. Everything went so smooth. Trump's team was completely
respectful.
The Arlington staff was completely respectful.
I heard nothing.
The claim here is that Trump is politicizing
his visit to Arlington and that day that he spent with you.
They clearly want Americans to think that Trump is using
the 13 killed as some kind of political pawn.
When you speak to him, and I know that you have,
and I know that he's rather close to all of these families,
do you sense that, or is there an
authentic concern there from him?
No, he is 100% authentic.
This
year, I reached out to him. My dad is 80 years old. He has a deep respect for Trump. My son had a deep respect for Trump. I said, oh, this would be great. This is my dad. He said that this is probably his last time to be able to travel there.
I wanted him to lay the wreath and I said, this would be a great opportunity. It would be great for our family to have this memory.
So we brought him in.
Trump was nothing. It was not political whatsoever. He was asking me about Taylor, talking about the family, how we were doing.
We'd have, we would talk about how we felt that day and it was a beautiful day and that it was a joyous day. You know, he told me to, you know, not to cry, that it was happy, that Taylor was happy, and it was a good day. Nothing political.
Yeah. This is all just a, you know, they're throwing daggers at us Gold Star parents. Yeah. You know, we've already been through so much. I I you know, can't they just stay in their lane and mind their businesses had nothing to do with politics whatsoever when you when you go to Arlington I know it's sad
and I know it's very somber to be there, but does it make you proud
to honor your son? And I mean, that is such a beautiful place
and it's such an important place.
It is like a sanctuary for me to go there and to sit. It is a beautiful place.
Usually I have a place to myself and I can sit and reflect and talk to him.
It's just a beautiful, somber place.
You know, and I know that people keep
bringing up this stupid photo.
That photo was for me. Trump was walking away and I said, hey, can I get a photo, you know, around Taylor's
headstone really fast with my family and my friends? It was supposed to be for me. Arlington is the 1 that took that picture and leaked that photo.
They're the ones that gave it to NPR and started this whole thing.
And that breaks my heart because
I love going to Arlington and I've had nothing but great things and great experiences with the staff there and this breaks my heart that they're allowing their employees to act this way
because that is definitely a sanctuary.
It's a safer place for me to be with my son.
The politically charged nature of it,
you're right, makes no sense, has no place here.
You
guys have been through a lot, as you said, and
Your kids
are all heroes.
What happened that day should not have happened.
And it's an embarrassment to, I think, this administration. And I think that's why we have this so politically charged because we're coming up against an election.
But I wanna thank you so much for coming on tonight and sharing that story with us. And thank you so much for your son. And you should be immensely proud. And he belongs in a place that's as beautiful as Arlington Cemetery, and it is an incredible place. And thank you so much for coming on tonight and sharing that story with us. And thank you so much for your son. And you should be immensely proud. And he belongs in a place that's as beautiful as Arlington Cemetery. And it is an incredible place. And thank you so much for coming on.
Thank you so much. Thank you, Kelly. All right, we'll be right back.
