A new report claims that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had to intervene to allow former President Donald Trump to attend Monday’s event with Gold Star families at Arlington National Cemetery for the third anniversary of the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal that led to the death of 13 U.S. service members.
A family told The Daily Caller that Arlington National Cemetery had made it difficult for Trump to appear and lay a wreath in honor of the 13 U.S. troops killed in the Kabul suicide bombing at Monday’s ceremony prior to Johnson’s intervention. The anonymous family told The Daily Caller that Arlington National Cemetery officials told the Gold Star families that the president could not join them at the ceremony despite being invited by the families and that the families could only be at the cemetery at a time that did not work for all of them.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Daily Caller that he was contacted about the situation by Darin Hoover and Kelly Barnett, the parents of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, who was killed in Afghanistan. After being alerted to the situation with Arlington Cemetery, McCaul contacted Johnson to ask for help in fixing the issues.
“When Darin and Kelly contacted me, I was furious to hear their request to have President Trump join them to commemorate the anniversary of Taylor’s death was being stymied, along with several of the other family members of U.S. servicemembers killed at Abbey Gate,” McCaul said.
McCaul added, “I immediately asked what I could do to help and reached out to Speaker Johnson to see what he could do. Thankfully, Speaker Johnson and his team acted quickly and were able to get the situation resolved. But something like this should never have happened. Gold Star families have already suffered enough.”
READ MORE: Videos: Trump honors troops killed in Afghanistan; Biden, Harris missing
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told The Daily Caller that The Biden-Harris administration “absolutely interfered with the tributes to the 13 fallen.” He described the Gold Star families of the troops killed in Afghanistan as “collateral damage” in the Biden-Harris administration’s “war” against the former president.
A source with knowledge regarding the conversations between Arlington National Cemetery and the Gold Star families noted that the situation quickly changed after Johnson intervened.
“After the Speaker’s call, the situation shifted significantly,” the source said. “It was only three days before the ceremonies, and Arlington National Cemetery waited until the last minute to confirm key components of the event with the families.”
The source also told The Daily Caller that Arlington Cemetery officials have contradicted what the Gold Star families requested by claiming that the families did not want photography or videography at Monday’s ceremony.
“The families were fine with the media, designated by the Trump team, but Arlington kept pushing back, obstructing the process,” the source added.
