Kelly Barnett, the mother of Staff Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover, who was killed in the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan in 2021 has criticised the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris administration for turning Donald Trump's visit to the cemetery political.
The suicide bombing by an ISIS-K member at the Abbey Gate entrance of Hamid Karzai International Airport killed 13 US troops, including 11 Marines, one Navy sailor, and one Army soldier. Eighteen other US service members were wounded, and over 150 civilians died in the attack.
Barnett, who has previously criticised Biden for the Afghanistan withdrawal, hit out at the Biden administration over the recent controversy surrounding Trump's visit to the cemetery. After the visit, NPR reported citing a source inside the cemetery that there was an altercation between two members of the Trump campaign and a cemetery official over taking photos in Section 60, the area in the cemetery where the 13 soldiers who died in the Abbey Gate bombing are buried.
Barnett, having attended the wreath-laying ceremony in which Trump participated said that there was no altercation and both the cemetery and the Trump staffers behaved amicably. Meanwhile, there was a photo that was leaked to in which Barnett, along with a few other Gold Star family members had been photographed at the cemetery.
The photo has attracted a lot of criticism from opponents, alleging that Trump was using the soldiers to boost his political campaign. However, Barnett said that the photo was taken for herself by the cemetery authorities, and she accused that it was leaked.
"Everything went so smooth. Trump's team was completely respectful. The Arlington staff was completely respectful," Barnett said in an interview with Newsmax regarding reports of the altercation.
Regarding the photo, she said: "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 around Taylor's headstone really fast with my family and my friends? It was supposed to be for me.
"Arlington is the one that took that picture and leaked that photo. They're the ones that gave it to NPR and started this whole thing. 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."