Viewpoint: Looking at the Megan Barry Affair

This week, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry released a statement admitting she has been cheating on her husband. The affair with the head of her security detail, Sergeant Robert Forrest, began shortly after Barry was sworn into office in 2015.

Barry denies the claims of  professional misconduct and alleged misuse of travel funds that appeared in a story published in the Tennessean. who looked into the business trips Barry went on with Forrest. Out of twenty- three business trips, nine were attended by Barry and Forrest alone.

The officer retired the same day Barry’s statement was released, yet the mayor says she will not resign.

“I made a serious mistake, but this is not a tragedy,” Barry said in a Nashville Public radio podcast.

Mayor Barry was in the national news last summer after her 22-year- old son died of a drug overdose in July. Now looking back, records state that Forrest was the officer who broke the news of her son’s death. Barry now goes from a grieving mother speaking on the opioids crisis to an apologetic wife speaking on infidelity.

“I also must apologize to the people of Nashville who elected me to serve as your mayor. I knew my actions could cause damage to my office and the ones I loved, but I did it anyway. I must hold myself to the highest standard of which the voters deserve to expect. Please know that I’m disappointed in myself but also understand that I’m a human and that I made a mistake,” Barry’s statement said.

She apologized to her husband. Forrest apologized to his wife. Barry ended her statement saying that God will forgive her but the people of Nashville do not have to, either way she will continue to work hard and gain back their trust.