Officials at Arlington National Cemetery have filed a report about conduct they say included Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign staff shoving and yelling at employees during a “vulgar” photo op.
Officials confirmed that the clashes occurred at a Virginia cemetery on Monday after the former president took part in a wreath-laying ceremony for 13 U.S. soldiers killed in a 2021 suicide bombing outside Kabul airport in Afghanistan.
Arlington acknowledged in a statement that one of its representatives was involved in an altercation with two Trump campaign staffers, and told them that only cemetery representatives were allowed to take videos and photos in Section 60, where most of the remains are those of recent U.S. military casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Federal law prohibits political campaigning or election-related activity on Army National Military Cemeteries, including visits by photographers, content creators or others for campaign purposes or in direct support of partisan political candidates,” the statement said, adding that a “report has been filed” about the incident.
“Arlington National Cemetery has thoroughly informed all attendees of this law and its prohibitions,” the statement said.
According to NPR, the officer “yelled abuse at the staff member and shoved him” as he tried to stop the staff member from accompanying Trump into the section. announced the allegations Tuesday night.
Senator J.D. Vance dismissed the spat late on Wednesday as a media exaggeration over a “minor difference of opinion.” But Trump's running mate also slammed Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic rival in the November presidential election and US Vice President, over the Biden-Harris administration's handling of the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, telling her “Harris can go to hell.”
At an event in Wisconsin late Wednesday, Vance was asked by a reporter about whether anyone seeking the presidency must follow the laws set out by Arlington.
In response, he accused the media of “acting as if Donald Trump were filming a TV commercial in a cemetery.”
After laying the wreath, Trump was photographed during the visit. Grinning and giving thumbs up As he stood in front of the graves of several fallen servicemen, the image drew immediate condemnation.
The family of Sergeant Andrew Marchesano, who is buried in Arlington, A statement was issued The New York Times reported that the agency said Wednesday that it had not given Trump's staff permission to film at Marchesano's gravesite, but that the family of Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover, who is also buried there, had given permission.
“Based on discussions with Arlington National Cemetery, Trump campaign staff did not adhere to established rules regarding this visit to Sergeant Huber's grave in Section 60, immediately adjacent to his brother's grave,” Marchesano's sister, Michelle, said in a statement to The New York Times.
She continued: “I hope that people who visit this sacred site understand that these are real people who sacrificed for our freedom and they are being given the honor and respect they deserve.”
In 2018, Trump reportedly canceled a visit to a US military cemetery outside Paris because he thought the dead soldiers were “stupid” and “losers” and because he didn't want to get his hair messed up in the rain.
Instead of apologizing, the Trump campaign attempted to flip the Arlington story, with officials separately accusing the cemetery's representatives of being “despicable people who suffered from mental illness.”
“There was no physical confrontation as described and we are prepared to make the footage public if any such defamation claims are made,” Stephen Chan, the campaign's communications director, said in a statement.
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“The facts are that a private photographer was allowed on the grounds, but for some reason, an anonymous individual, who was clearly suffering from a mental illness, decided to physically disrupt a member of President Trump's team in the middle of a very solemn ceremony.”
Meanwhile, Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, posted a video of Trump with X. Place flowers on the graveand launched into vehement accusations against Arlington officials. They say they are “spreading lies.”
“Any despicable individual who would physically prevent President Trump's team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and unfit to represent the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery,” LaCivita, a former Marine, said in a statement. NBC reported.
Mark Esper, who served as Secretary of Defense under Donald Trump, CNN He said Wednesday morning he wants the reported altercation to be investigated, adding that the premises should never be used for “partisan political purposes.”
Several military families also released statements expressing their support for Trump and their gratitude for his visit. He posted To his true social network.
Vance was speaking at a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania. He said Regarding the airport incident that left a US soldier dead, he wrote, “Kamala Harris was asleep at the wheel and won't even investigate what happened. She just wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up. Go to hell!”
President Trump has previously sought to gain political advantage from a haphazard plan for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021, which he approved during the first year of President Joe Biden's administration.
“The humiliation in Afghanistan, unleashed by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, has caused the collapse of American credibility and respect around the world,” Trump argued Monday in a speech to the Michigan National Guard Association conference marking the third anniversary of the Kabul airport attack.
A scathing State Department report released earlier this year criticized both Biden and Trump for decisions that led to the chaotic evacuation and the bombing at an airport gate that killed 150 Afghans along with 13 Americans.
Veterans for Responsible Leadership Post to X“Not only has Mr Trump violated the sanctity of Arlington, he has also violated the official etiquette of the cemetery,” he wrote at the start of a thread discussing the cemetery's rules.
Helen Sullivan, Chris Stein and Maya Yang contributed reporting.
