US Vice President Kamala Harris said former President Donald Trump “disrespected sacred ground” in his recent appearance at Arlington National Cemetery, where the Republican nominee took and distributed images despite a federal prohibition on campaign activity on the grounds.
Harris, in a statement posted Saturday on the social media platform X, cited reports that Trump's campaign aides created an altercation with a cemetery staffer and proceeded to take photographs and film the former president, including at the graves of Afghanistan war veterans, after being warned about rules at the site.
“Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” Harris said, calling Arlington a “solemn place where we come together to honour American heroes ... not a place for politics.”
The original incident stemmed from Trump's and Republicans' continued criticism of President Joe Biden and now Harris for the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan. At the invitation of some family members of service members killed during the withdrawal, Trump laid wreaths last Monday in honour of Sgt Nicole Gee, Staff Sgt Darin Hoover and Staff Sgt Ryan Knauss.
They were among 13 US service members and more than 100 Afghans who died in an Aug 26, 2021, bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Trump's campaign was warned about not taking photographs before an altercation at the cemetery, according to defense officials. Officials have said since that an Arlington employee whom two Trump campaign staff members allegedly “verbally abused and pushed” aside has declined to press charges. The Trump campaign has since lashed out at Pentagon officials, with a top campaign adviser, Chris LaCivita, referring to military spokespersons as “hacks”. Trump campaign officials say it had permission to bring someone to take video.
Since Biden ended his reelection bid, Trump has been zeroing in on Harris and her roles in foreign policy decisions. He has specifically highlighted the vice president's statements that she was the last person in the room before Biden made the decision on Afghanistan.
Biden's administration was following a withdrawal commitment and timeline that the Trump administration had negotiated with the Taliban in 2020. A 2022 review by a government-appointed special investigator concluded decisions made by both Trump and Biden were the key factors leading to the rapid collapse of Afghanistan's military and the Taliban takeover.
Harris on Saturday alluded to Trump's history of picking fights with veterans and repeated allegations that he has “called our fallen service members suckers' and losers' and disparaged Medal of Honour recipients”.
“This is a man who is unable to comprehend anything other than service to himself,” Harris said. “I will always honour the service and sacrifice of all of America's fallen heroes...And I will never politicise them.”
