On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby responded to charges from Gold Star parent Kelly Barnett that the Biden administration lied about how her son died and a question on whether President Biden will meet with any of the Gold Star families or talk more about the attack by stating that Biden “certainly has talked about Afghanistan and the decision to withdraw and the evacuation and how it was conducted. We have conducted after-action reports, we’ve shared information with Congress and the public to the degree that we can. The President and the first lady continue to grieve with all the Gold Star families, and especially those who were killed in that terrible day at Abbey Gate.”
Host Jake Tapper said, “Last week, I spoke to a Gold Star mom who lost her son at Abbey Gate two years ago, in Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover. She’s testified to Congress. In her view, the Biden administration lied to her about how her son died.” After playing video of Barnett urging the President to admit he messed up and wanted a photo-op, host Jake Tapper asked, “Do you think President Biden is willing to meet with any of these Gold Star families or talk publicly more about what happened at Abbey Gate two years ago?”
Kirby responded, “He certainly has talked about Afghanistan and the decision to withdraw and the evacuation and how it was conducted. We have conducted after-action reports, we’ve shared information with Congress and the public to the degree that we can. The President and the first lady continue to grieve with all the Gold Star families, and especially those who were killed in that terrible day at Abbey Gate. There’s not a day that goes by that he and the first lady aren’t thinking about them, mourning with them, and understanding the loss and the sacrifice and the anguish that they’re still feeling. And you could hear it in that soundbite clearly there. And we understand that. And we’re going to stay with them and support them for the rest of their lives, as we should, as they deserve to. But pulling out of Afghanistan was the right decision for our national security. We’re not now bogged down in a war in Afghanistan. We have been able to free up resources and manpower to be prepared for other national security concerns, such as the ones we’re going — we have in the Indo-Pacific and that we anticipate being able to talk about at Camp David. That war is over. It should have been ended. And the mission for which the troops had been sent there had been accomplished.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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