A Gold Star mother who lost her son in the Taliban attack that marred President Joe Biden’s botched Afghan withdrawal recently confronted CNN host Jake Tapper over the media’s failure to hold the Biden administration accountable for its mishandling of the situation.
Kelly Barnett, the mother of fallen Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover, took to The Lead with Jake Tapper to reveal she never would have expected the media to silence her son’s death. When Tapper asked why she decided to speak out now, Barnett said: “Where have you all been? We need you, Jake. We need you. We need CNN, we need all the other networks to voice our opinions, our truths and get it out there.”
In addition to demanding justice for her son, Barnett also blasted the Biden administration for its lies about what happened to her son on the day of the bombing. She revealed that the administration had initially told her that her son died on impact, completely falsifying details about the attack to her.
“I now know because of witnesses that were there,” she said. “You know, how he — where he was when he passed. They lied about where he was standing. And again, from witnesses, I now know where that truth is. I’m not really sure, you know, they even know where he was at this point. But I know where he was. They’ve given false statements.”
Barnett expressed her exasperation at the leniency Biden has received for his handling of the withdrawal. “He needs to come out and say, yes, I made a mistake,” she said. “I chose wrong. I was looking for a photo op and I messed up.”
The Biden administration has yet to issue an apology or any kind of statement in response to the attack and has failed to address the lack of preparedness that led to the withdrawal disaster. Twelve soldiers were killed that day, and many more were seriously injured.
Barnett’s brave words are exposing the negligence of the Biden administration in regard to its processing of the Afghan withdrawal, as well as once again emphasizing the human costs of war and the need for media coverage of the issues surrounding it. It remains to be seen if any action will be taken as a result of Barnett’s brave campaign, however, her voice is an important one that should not be forgotten.