United States Vice-President Kamala Harris has criticised former President Donald Trump for his visit to the Arlington National Cemetery last week, accusing him of attempting to politicise the military cemetery.
This comes after reports of a confrontation between Trump’s staff and a cemetery official trying to enforce rules prohibiting political activity at military burial grounds during his visit to Arlington on August 26. NPR reported that another rule that stoked the dispute was one that states only “an official Arlington National Cemetery photographer — and no campaign photographer — could be used at Section 60, the location of the recent American war dead”.
Trump’s visit to the Arlington National Cemetery has been criticised by the Army, even as several families of the military personnel buried there have spoken in support of Trump. The former president later posted a video from the cemetery to criticise the Biden-Harris administration’s management of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, CNN reported.
According to a report by Politico, Trump visited the cemetery to attend a memorial with families of service members killed during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. While there, Trump’s team allegedly “verbally abused and pushed a staffer” when the latter attempted to stop the photographer accompanying the team from conducting a photo session at the cemetery.
Trump campaign officials, however, say the conflict was caused by an individual who “physically blocked the former president’s team from accompanying him during the visit”, CNN reported.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris took to X, and accused Trump of trying to politicise the cemetery visit and using the burial ground of fallen service members for a photo opportunity. She called his visit a “political stunt” and said he had “disrespected a sacred ground”.
Harris wrote, “It is not a place for politics.”
“And yet, as was reported this week, Donald Trump’s team chose to film a video there, resulting in an altercation with cemetery staff. Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” she added.
“If there is one thing on which we as Americans can all agree, it is that our veterans, military families, and service members should be honored, never disparaged, and treated with nothing less than our highest respect and gratitude,” Harris said. “And it is my belief that someone who cannot meet this simple, sacred duty should never again stand behind the seal of the President of the United States of America.”
As Vice President, I have had the privilege of visiting Arlington National Cemetery several times. It is a solemn place; a place where we come together to honor American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of this nation.
It is not a place for politics.
And…
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 31, 2024
Support From Running Mate
Republican vice-presidential candidate Senator J.D. Vance, who served in the Marine Corps, spoke in Trump’s defence and criticised Biden and Harris for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. He blamed the administration for the Abbey Gate bombing at the Kabul airport in 2021, which resulted in the deaths of 13 service members and dozens of Afghans leaving Afghanistan amid the Taliban’s resurgence.
Vance posted on X that Trump was there on the invitation of families of those “who died because of your incompetence”. “Why don’t you get off social media and go launch an investigation into their unnecessary deaths?” he added.
President Trump was there at the invitation of families whose loved ones died because of your incompetence.
Why don’t you get off social media and go launch an investigation into their unnecessary deaths? https://t.co/UC2jIGIfaE
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 31, 2024
A statement from the US Army, which oversees Arlington National Cemetery, said a cemetery employee was “pushed aside” while attempting to stop Trump’s photographer from accompanying the former president to the grave sites.
As per a Politico report, the cemetery staffer declined to press charges after the confrontation. The Army defended the official, stating that all participants in the event were informed of the federal laws and policies prohibiting political activities.
